Perim Life
by CoalTreasure
Summary: Humans are battling on Perim, and the Creatures in the middle. Drabbles of whatever comes to mind or requests of Creautures/humans. Very AU.
1. The Beginning

_**A/N: Currently having trouble with Meet the Family, so this is my writers block and requested stuff. Meet the Family will be completed, never fear, it's just going to be awhile. The stories on here will be completely AU, so don't think that it fits in the TV series.**_

_**I do not own Chaotic nor do I know the customs of the Comanche.  
**_

Naomi was running. She had enough evidence against _them_. After six months, she finally hit pay-dirt when she found documents with plans to take over the whole alien planet that they were camped out on. During that time, she had to worm her way into everyone's graces: the cooks, the mechanics, the scientists, even the miners! It took forever for the higher ups to trust her and allow her clearance. Even then, she had to hold that position for a bit before making a break for the surface.

Ore Industries had found this planet and sent a team to start mining. They found another world, underground, with easier access to the metals they wanted. They dug in, and stayed. They grew like a tick on blood and began to expand, both outward and _up_ward. The locals did not like that and began to retaliate. Ore recruited soldiers to defend them, and soon massed an army. Soldiers from all over Earth began to swear loyalty to them.

The United Nations began to worry about all their missing troops, so they sent one volunteer to do the job. Naomi was the only one who signed up; the United Nations were to send ships soon after she left. After three year of cyro-stasis, she had infiltrated Ore's mining center and began to earn people's trust. She had to follow orders, defend the perimeter, and scout. The one skirmish that sealed her loyalty in Ore's eyes was when she "killed" a lion man with just an arrow.

She had been behind him with others attacking from the front. Their guns were molten heaps of slag from some sort of lava attack. She had brought her quiver for comfort and the other soldiers had knives. She didn't want to truly kill any locals, so she made tranquilizer arrows, powerful enough feign death. She fired one of those arrows, and it hit home on his shoulder blade, close enough to be called a kill shot. One roar was all he had before he went down, and didn't get up again. She had raced over while he fell, close enough that he grabbed her neck before into unconsciousness, and said that he was dead after listening to his steady heartbeat. She didn't bother to look for his pulse under that shaggy mane. They left the body for the fast approaching locals.

That was the night that she was granted top clearance. That was the night she had all the evidence she needed or wanted at her fingertips. A week later, she drugged everyone while on kitchen duty and slipped out, copies of documents in her pack.

Naomi looked at the opening to the underground she had been living in. It was a simple slope up, but to Naomi it was the path to safety. She raced up it to the open night air, passed the rock with the strange symbol on it (a circle with a dot in the bottom corner with a carved slash close to the dot), and beyond. She soon reached a village with farm land and several barns full of animals. She saw a moving skeleton, assembled like a horned horse that would be perfect for travel. But she wasn't just going to steal it. She had to leave something behind as a trade, as was Comanche custom.

Her knife, sheathed in a beautifully beaded sheath, was to be left behind. She left it in a child's room and took the steed from its stall. She only bothered with a bridle and a blanket before riding. She set off at a gallop for open plains.

-3 days later-

Naomi pulled her steed to a halt at the first rumble of thunder. She listened carefully, then grinned. She looked up to the bright blue sky and saw the ship land not two miles away. More ships followed its example.

Naomi "Little Cougar" Hunting Pride, recognized warrior of the Comanche tribe, smiled, eyes hard. Time for the war to begin.

**_A/N: Remember, ladies and gentlemen, it's better to leave a review than a favorite. Constructive criticism and all. _**


	2. Arias: Trade

_**A/N: Arias meets Naomi. I don't own Chaotic.**_

It was particular. It was very particular. Arias had heard nothing like it. He had heard of the strange creatures that call themselves "humans," had heard of the destruction they cause, Cothica, he had even seen them raid a village and pick it clean of everything from food to metal. But this was the first time that he heard that they leave things behind during a raid.

He was in a village where a recent theft had occurred. This village did very well, despite the fact it was on the border to the Underworld. In fact, the smuggling trade to and from the Underworld was probably what made it rich alongside its farming. But farming or smuggling was not the reason he was here. A family's Skeletal Steed had been stolen, as well as its bridle and blanket. The worst part was it was the youngest of the family's steed that was stolen. But the particular thing was that a knife was left in the youngest's room on the dresser.

The theft occurred almost five nights ago. Two days ago, strange aircraft landed near Runic Grove. Arias had a feeling that the two events were connected. Maxxor must have had the same idea, because he set up camp on the outskirts of the village. This lasted only three days before he had to leave to investigate a series of battles between the humans. He only left Arias to watch the village for any more thieves. Arias straightened his shoulders as Maxxor and the others in the squad left. He wouldn't let his leader down.

A full moon had passed since Arias was stationed at the border village. Nothing had happened between that time, not even internal brawls between villagers. The child whose steed was stolen had taken up hanging the knife by his window, in hopes that the thief was just looking for his or her knife.

Arias was beginning to lose sleep. Whoever this thief was, either they were planning another one item theft, or they were gathering more people to launch a raid. Arias groaned as he realized it was going to be another sleepless night of constant worrying. He looked up at the window where the knife in its beautifully beaded sheath was. It was still there, looking foreign against the clear night sky.

Clop, clop, clop, clop.

What was that? Arias thought. He looked around and caught sight of a tail going into a barn.

"The barn that was robbed," Arias whispered to himself quietly and ran to catch the intruder. He skidded around the corner to see a female human with midnight black hair in a single braid emerge from a stall and close the door. A bridle and blanket were hanging from a hook by the stall. What surprised him the most was the grey stocky beast that was waiting for her and a Skeletal Steed thrusting its head over the stall door.

Arias growled a warning. "Who are you and what are you doing here?" he demanded. The female jumped and said in broken Perimian, "I do not speak your language very well. But I am returning the mount."

"You are the one who left the knife?" Arias interrogated.

"Yes. I need to retrieve it for the trade to be complete," the human said. She mounted the grey beast, but Arias was blocking her only exit.

"You honestly think that just a knife in a beaded sheath is worth a Skeletal Steed?" he questioned.

"My knife was to make sure that I came back," she simply said before the beast charged. Arias barely got out of the way as beast and rider rounded the corner. Arias scrambled to follow but it was too late. They were gone.

It was only until morning broke that Arias realized that something else was gone as well. The knife in the window had returned to its mistress.

_Very particular creatures indeed,_ Arias thought as the village stared at the returned Skeletal Steed.

_**A/N: Love it? Hate it? Review.**_


	3. Vinta: Misunderstanding

**_A/N: I am open to requests if you want. This was originally something else, but then it decided it wanted to be this. I don't own Chaotic._  
**

**Vinta: Misunderstanding**

Vinta looked down from his hiding spot into the humans down below at the mouth the rocky canyon. A unit of them was setting up camp within distance of a village that had a dew farm. He wasn't sure what they want, but he bet that it wasn't good.

He crawled down the side of the canyon as stealthily as his invisibility allowed. Perhaps he could steal something valuable to take back to Prince Mudeenu. Maybe some maps, or a box with things in it. If he was really lucky, he might be able to snag one of their weapons.

He reached the floor of the canyon and began to skulk around the tents, with new canvas, rope, and shiny metal stakes. He went to the biggest tent, which was in the middle of the camp. Extremely dangerous when dealing with the enemy, worse when it's humans.

Humans had no respect, no honor. They don't ask questions, never take prisoners, and don't have emotions. They were nothing but killing monsters, even worse than the killers that the Underworlders capture. Humans were a menace that needed to be destroyed, eradicated from Perim.

Vinta peeked into the tent silently, checking to see if there were any guards. Satisfied that there were none, he crept into the tent, disabling his invisibility. The tent was crammed with large, black, metal boxes, tables covered in blue paper and, on closer inspection, chalk, and chests of clay and moldable materials.

Vinta was confused. These were materials of builders, of creators, of artists. Where were the weapons, the plans of attack, the duty rosters? What kind of breed of human were these people?

Lost in his musings, he didn't see the shadows behind him until a sharp intake of air alerted him of his company.

"Vinta, what are you doing here?" a familiar voice asked. Vinta whipped around to see Fivarth, a confused expression on his face, next to a large, pale human with dark brown hair and a bit of a belly.

Horror laced up Vinta's spine as he put two and two together. The Conjuror had sided with the humans! Vinta didn't know if Fivarth knew any major plans against the humans, but he wasn't about to take any chances. He leapt for Fivarth, but the human got in the way. They rolled outside into the sunshine before Vinta released a Spirit Gust attack. The human was knocked off of him, and Vinta scrambled to his feet before he realized that Fivarth was not the only Conjuror there.

Appelai, Habekh, and Ranun were there as well. They were standing next to more humans, leaning against rocks, and seemed relaxed around the enemy. They seemed surprised at the sight of him. But what shocked him the most was the muge. Sobjetk was with them.

"Traitors!" Vinta shouted, "Backstabbers! How dare you side with the enemy?"

"Enemy?" Sobjekt asked, amusement lightly laced in his voice.

"These are our humans, Vinta," Appelai added, "They are kind to us."

Vinta laughed bitterly. "Kind? Humans do not know that word. They are murderers! Nothing more, nothing less."

Fivarth shook his head. "Only some humans are like that, Vinta."

Vinta snarled, "LIAR!" and throw a Power Pulse at him. Fivarth went sailing into the tent and Vinta made his escape, activating his invisibility and ignoring the shouts of humans. He quickly left the camp and was on his way to Prince Mudeenu's camp. He had to report this.

Back in the camp, the brown haired human was helping Fivarth up.

"What…that…all about?" the human asked in broken Perimian, using hand movements to emphasize his question. Fivarth sighed and replied in broken English, "Vinta….is loyal….very. I apologize….Samson. We may….have trouble."

"For us? A…small….group of…..engineers?" Samson laughed. "What…harm…can we….do?"

Fivarth smiled, though it was a little sad. "It is….us Conjurors…worried about."

Samson flung an arm around Fivarth. "He…get…over it. We…will…late…to class!"

Fivarth snorted as Samson led him away to go to their language classes, taught by Sobjekt and another human.

**_A/N: Time and time again I have said this, Reviews are better than favorites. Please, constructive criticism._**


	4. Ibiaan: Surprise!

_**A/N: Late, but I have an excuse. I was really busy and no of my creative juices were working. So, I did Ibiaan and if someone has a particular Underworder they want me to do, just say so. Enjoy and please review!**_

Ibiaan: Surprise!

Ibiaan stared at the little camp nestled between two large rocks and a cave in the cliff wall. There were three or four tents total, and they were all cleverly camouflaged so that nobody would see them. Well, nobody except the Danians. It took a bit of scouting and a lot of luck to find those humans. Ibaan remembered how pale Formicidor was when his squad returned from the edge of Mount Pillar.

Ibiaan was surprised to see humans this far in Danian territory. They usually stayed on the outskirts of the Underworlder/Danian border. They tried to invade once, but the mere sight of one of their comrades turning into a Danian via Parasite had them scampering back over to the Underworlders. Ibiaan was there for the execution of that human. He wasn't taking the Parasite as well as they hoped.

_How did they get this close to us?_ Ibiaan wondered. _Humans don't have a monopoly on sneakiness. _It was true; all of the Tribes knew the humans were clumsy, good for nothing beasts that relied more on their weapons and technology than their own instincts.

Soft clicking alerted Ibiaan of a fellow Danian coming up behind him. A quick glance over his shoulder told him that Kebna was coming to him. He went into a salute, keeping an eye on the camp.

"Easy, Ibiaan," Kebna chided. "Don't want to alert the humans, now do we?" Ibiaan gave a small smile. The Battlemasters have been chattering all day on how to deal with the humans while keeping it quiet to the other Tribes. It would be very embarrassing if they knew that the evasive Danians had humans on their land as well.

"What's the plan, sir?" Ibiaan asked. Kebna sighed. "There's no plan right now," he firmly said. "We have to worry about the convoy coming in five days' time, and we have to confer with Lore when he gets back tomorrow."

"But-" Ibiaan started, but Kebna cut him off. "No 'buts'. We can't let the humans know that we spotted them and risk an attack on ourselves as well as the convoy. Understand?"

Ibiaan nodded his head uneasily as his replacement relieved him of his post. As he made his way to his nest, he knew that he was going to check every nook and cranny of his nest like he did as a hatchling. He did not want to be surprised by a human in the middle of the night.

…..

"It's been three days!" Jaal complained loudly. "What sort of plan takes three days to think up?" He was in one of the fighting chambers, where Danians can brush up on their fighting skills. Several others were there as well, including Ibiaan.

"Relax, Jaal. I'm sure that they have something planned for the humans and the convoy." Ibiaan rolled his eyes at the warrior's complaint, though he did have a point. What was taking the Battlemasters and Lore so long to formulate a plan? Did they intend to just capture and trade the humans, or did they have something more painful like the Parasite planned?

"Besides, it's not like anything's been happening with the humans, anyways," Aimukk said. The red Danian had returned from a mission that had been cut short. He was mildly irritated that reason was do-nothing-humans, but then, nothing interesting happened in Everrain.

"They may be using this time to launch a sneak attack! We must act now!" Tarbok cried. Before anyone could stop him or even counter his statement, Tarbok rushed over to a slightly open door to a tunnel to the Gear chamber and opened it. Ibiaan could stare as something out of place happened.

A large bucket of water, perched on the very top of the door, had fallen on Tarbok and drenched him. The bucket was rather large and painted bright orange. It was a human bucket; for it was made out of what Nimmei said was called "plastic." It must have had ice mixed with the water, for Tarbok was shaking.

Ibiaan was shaking as well, but not from being cold. He was desperately trying not to laugh, but he wasn't the only one. Aimukk was trying not to laugh by fiddling with his Battlegear, but Jaal had no qualms about enjoying Tarbok's misery. He was laughing his thorax off, rolling on the ground clutching his sides. Soon, Aimukk and Ibiaan joined him, Aimukk using his Battlegear to help support him and Ibiaan clutching his sides. It was a good five minutes for them to calm down enough to speak; by then a small crowd had gathered and Tarbok was glaring at the three of them.

"I despise you all," he said haughtily, before moving out of the way to make room for Ekuud and Kebna. News reached everyone when it's the Hive. The two Battlemasters inspected every inch of that bucket before interrogating the four of them.

"How did this happen?" Ekuud demanded harshly, not finding the situation a bit funny.

"Don't know," Jaal answered, chuckles still escaping him. "Tarbok was just opening the door!" He collapsed, unable to stand straight.

"When did this happen?" Kebna asked.

"Five minutes ago," Ibiaan gasped, chortles still controlling him.

"Was anything out of place when you arrived?" Kebna asked before Ekuud could speak again.

"Not that visible," Aimukk said. Ekuud abandoned the interrogation in favor of inspecting around the pond of water. Kebna asked a few more questions before Ekuud called him over from a few feet from the tunnel.

"Boot prints," the other Battlemaster pointed out once Kebna was with him. "Heading to the tunnel from…" Ekuud followed the tracks to one of the chamber entrances, "the east entrance."

By then, the small crowd grew into a larger one and included Odu-Bathax, Nimmei, and Lore. Nimmei stepped forward to look at the prints. His face grew troubled.

"Those are human boots. Humans mass-produce everything, including clothes and shoes. See the little square and the character next to it? The square contains the company that makes it while the character gives the size," he explained.

"Can you tell which human side that did this?" Odu-Bathax said. Nimmei squinted at the track and replied, "Eh…it looks like it's one of the United Nations' boots. This company sponsors them."

"Think it might be the humans just outside?" Kebna asked. Before anyone could answer, Tarbok shouted, "That's it! We attack them now before this gets worse!"

"_You will not._" A voice full of iron control cut through the air, and the crowd parted to reveal Raznus. But he wasn't his usual calm self. His red exoskeleton seemed to steam with fury, his red eyes narrowed to slits, and his entire body screamed "do NOT mess with!"

"Right now, we need to focus our energy on the convoy. We do not need to panic the traders nor alert the rest of the Tribes of our troubles. _We can take care of it_. There is no need to panic. This was a simple prank most likely to test us. If they do it again after the convoy leaves, then we take them." By the time Raznus was finished, he had walked in front of Tarbok, glaring at him until Tarbok looked down. "Understood?"

Muffled grumblings sounded around the chamber, but no one dared challenged him. Raznus may be the Danian's ambassador, but he was still a force to reckon with in a fight.

Ibiaan moved on from the fighting chamber, lost in his thoughts. How did a human enter Mount Pillar in the first place? How did nobody see him? Was the human even a "him"? Why didn't anyone see this human? Too many thoughts swam in his head as he made his way to his patrol area. Just what he needed: another headache.

….

Ibiaan watched the path to Mount Pillar anxiously. It was two days after the water bucket incident. All the Danians were on high alert, and not just because of the convoy. The day after the bucket, another prank was pulled by the humans. Every single sauce bottle was replaced by jars of giant worms that spring out of the jar when they removed the lid. All the citizens were scared at first, but once they realized that the worms were harmless, they had laughed. Only the Battlemasters and warriors remained wary. If the humans had sneaked in again twice, what would the third do?

Ibiaan saw the convoy first. "There they are!" he cried joyously. The platoon started to cheer loudly, but not enough to cover the growl of a motor. Ibiaan watched in horror as the convoy, merchants with wagons and carts, was circled by a human Humvee. The Humvee raced down the path and spun around to face the convoy. Ibiaan could see the thinking of these humans; they were going to scatter the convoy and deprive the Danians of supplies and trading.

"NO!" Ibiaan screamed before rushing forward, other Mandiblors and Battlemasters alike rushing forward. The Humvee's engine revved a few times, teasing them. It stopped long enough, however, to allow a human that was concealed by a rock formation to slip under the vehicle.

The Humvee sped away, heading straight for the convoy. The human jumped up and, to Ibiaan's surprise, began to run straight for the Danians. He (the human must have been a he) stopped after thirty seconds and covered his ears. Ibiaan stopped and stared.

"What the-?" was all he managed to get out before the Humvee exploded like an activated Nexus Fuse was in it. Parts went everywhere: metal bits, tire, and what looked like to be, Ibiaan believed, a human arm.

Ibiaan was slightly sick to his stomach. To see instant death in a single fireball made him realize how different this war was going to be. He barely remembered escorting the merchants and their wares around the blaze, reaching Mount Pillar only to realize that the human was longer there. He had disappeared.

A meeting was called and Ibiaan was ordered to attend to tell his version of what happened. When all witnesses were finished, the people who called the meeting were silent.

"Strange," murmured Lore. "All reports that we've had recently about humans did not include instances like this."

"Perhaps there are some who have prejudices about humans," Kebna voiced. Mutterings of agreement sounded throughout the room before Raznus spoke.

"The humans are complex than we thought. I suggest that we experiment with the humans in our borders. See how they behave, interact with each other in their group and to outside human and to us."

Everyone was silent as Lore sent this idea to Queen Illexia. Several tense minutes passed, in during which Ibiaan realized he was holding his breath, before Lore nodded his head.

"Yes."

_**A/N: Like it? Hate it? Want me to stop? Tell me! REVIEW!**_


	5. Agitos: Aggression

_**A/N: Sorry it's been awhile. was a request from Starart132 on . Had wanted Agitos to be done and this what I came up with. These characters will appear again soon. Disclaimer: I own nothing.**_

Agitos: Aggression

The Pits, one of the few places that Creatures still fear in this war. They spread that fear to the humans by telling stories of the tortures that the prisoners went through, the harshness of the guards, and the oppressing heat of the lava flows near the cages. Now the humans, enemies and alleged "allies" alike, stayed far away as possible from the place.

_Good riddance to them,_ Agitos thought aggressively. He didn't like humans, even the ones somewhat friendly to Underworlders. They were intruders, pests that needed to be eradicated. In fact that was going to happen tomorrow in the Colosseum; humans being killed by the Underworld's best warriors. It was to reassure the citizens that they would be safe no matter what. Takinom and Chaor had overseen the picking of the warriors and who would not cause internal conflicts on the field.

But now Agitos had to go to the Pits. The humans needed to be moved to the palace's dungeons before being in the Colosseum, but there was a problem. One of the human males was injured and might need to be killed a later time, when he was fully healed and ready for battle. Agitos was praying to the Cothica that the human wasn't too injured and could be used for battle.

He arrived at the Pits just as the guard shift changed. Grook was going back in the guardhouse while Dardemus took over. The blue dragon snarled, announcing his presence. Grook and Dardemus turned and bowed low, as was protocol with Agitos's high position. Agitos nodded to Grook, who exited into the guardhouse. Dardemus, however, stayed with him and led the way to the humans' cages. On the way, Agitos peppered him about the situation.

"When did the incident happen?" he demanded. Dardemus snorted in contempt about the injured human.

"About a day or two ago. We healed him up a bit, but that was it. Waiting for your decision," the green ogre replied.

"What's his alliance?"

"Ore." That one word. That one dreaded word. If was a human from the Nations, he would be at least a little interested in the male's history. Now he didn't care. But still, it was required.

"Where was he captured and how has he acting since his time here?" Agitos growled out. Dardemus did a mental check and said, "He was captured near one of the moveable camps near the Doors of the Deep Mines. That was a couple of moons ago. Downright irritable when he first came in. Kept trying to start fights with the other inmates during free time despite the fact that three quarters were Creatures. The other humans subdued him every time, until the fight finally seemed to go out of him."

"_Seemed?_" snarled Agitos. Seemed was never good. It meant that the Underworlders had underestimated their opponent, and never boded well.

"There was a switch. A moon after his capture, Ghuul brought a male and female in. The female was Nations, the male was Ore, but they acted like they were a pair. Very baffling, but we noticed that the now injured male was tense, unresponsive, and surprisingly combative. Didn't care who he was fighting, he just wanted to fight. Almost took on Miklon on if his previous experience hadn't stopped him. Several more humans came until a second female came in." Here Dardemus halted in front of a cage. "This is her."

Agitos frowned and had to see inside the dark cage. The human female inside was very slim, almost like a bird, and had very dark brown skin, almost like a tree. Agitos suspected her hair to be a deep brown or black, but he couldn't really tell with the bright shawl over her head. Her nose was pierced twice at the left nostril; her ears were covered with gold. Her outfit was as bright as her shawl, a tight top that barely covered her chest and shirt that reached her ankles. She was barefooted, most unusual for humans.

"When did she come in and what had happened when the injured saw her?" Agitos growled.

"Three weeks ago. She came in trembling and an absolute mess. Kerric found her after a tik'lo," naming one of the few predators in Everrain, one that looked like a very large human dog, only with various colored scales instead of fur, "had her up in a tree. Scared it off, brought her here after she refused to say what her alliance was, and things went downhill."

"The injured male attacked her?"

"Worse, apparently. He tried to take her by force. He had been terrorizing her for the first week, but tried to drag her away after free time was over and was in the middle of tearing her clothes off when she was finally able to scream. Grook got him off of her and let the other males that hadn't gone in yet rough him up under Rarran's supervision," Dardemus explained.

Agitos's attention peaked. The guards allowed one of the humans to be beaten by the others over an unwilling female? Was it taboo for single males and females to mate together? Or was it because the female did not want to be forced?

"What else?" Agitos asked, moving from the slim female's cage.

"The pair, right here," he said pointing out a male and female together in the same cage. Agitos raised a brow at the decision; apparently the guards allowed this to happen often. The female was a dirty blonde with colored streaks in her hair, freckles spattered all over her pale face, with some looking like splotches rather than actual dots. She had a bulkier body than the first female, but wore it proudly. The male was black, with short wiry hair connected to a short cut beard that covered his chin and around his mouth, making him look older while in reality he was probably no older to the female he was with. His body was purely muscle, but Agitos couldn't gauge how he gained that muscle without seeing how the big human moved outside the cage. They both still wore the uniforms of their respected allies, but Agitos noted that the male had ripped off all badges and marks that were related to Ore Industries on his uniform. Heavy boots covered their feet, unlike the first girl.

Dardemus continued as they walked past that cage, "They've been protecting the other female, even trying to coax her to talk more. A couple of days after the beating, Toxis herded another female from Ore to us. She immediately caused a stir. The other males from Ore were muttering about her, but we couldn't make out what they were saying. The injured male decided that she was the next 'victim' and began to bully her like he did with the other female." Here Dardemus grinned. "She didn't take it lying down."

Agitos looked at him, confused. "What do you mean?"

"She began to rage war on him, subtlety. She messed with his food one day, then sprung a trap on him the next. She defended the other girl with the pair when he tried to take her again. He was planning on killing her today," Dardemus concluded, stopping in front of another cage. "She found out and this was the result."

The guard opened the cage, and Agitos stepped in. He was shocked by the sight of the male. A skinny pale rat face looked up him, cuts covering his cheeks and nose. Bandages covered his arms, and an open shirt revealed more on his stomach, along with some giant purple and green spots on his chest. Agitos noted the tears in the male's leggings, but no white flashed from underneath. Superficial then.

The blue dragon looked closer and saw that this human had barely any muscle, but no fat. It was almost like he ate clouds and air rather than solids and liquids like the rest of them. The sandy hair wasn't helping disprove Agitos's theory.

Banged up, cut up, and bruised all over, but nothing that didn't scream that this human had to wait until the Colosseum.

"How's he been acting since the incident?" he asked Dardemus. The ogre shrugged. "Whiney mostly. He knows some of our words and twisted them to convey pain. Other than that, he still tries to fight the smaller inmates."

_A coward then,_ thought Agitos, _one that can be sent tonight to Underworld City for battle tomorrow._ Another thought darted through his mind and he voiced it.

"The female that taught him a lesson? Where is her cage?" he asked.

"Uh, about that…there's a little detail that I need to mention about her," Dardemus stalled. Agitos turned to glare at him. "What sort of 'detail'?" he growled.

Before Dardemus could reply, a loud screech cut through the air. "DARDEMUS! THAT FEMALE'S LOOSE AGAIN! SHE'S GOT MY KNIFE!"

Dardemus and Agitos turned to see if Rarran was flying towards them. What they saw instead was a human female in Ore uniform, knife in hand and a guilty expression on her face. Agitos was shocked to see that this human was almost completely washed out. Pale, almost marble, skin was covered by that awful uniform and the darkness of it enunciated her paleness. Her blonde hair was almost white, with only a light yellow undertone confirming that she did not dye her hair like the pair's female. Her feet were not covered, much like the first female.

Dardemus growled at her. "Female…" he began before a green bat shaped missile attacked her. A slight yelp was all she could get out before Rarran started to wrestle her for his knife. Insults immediately flew, the female letting her irritation known and Rarran cursing her for stealing. Dardemus wasn't moving toward the tussle, so Agitos said, "The female escapes often but doesn't get very far? Not very clever."

Dardemus snorted. "She doesn't want to get out of the Pits. She just likes roaming around and learning from experience. It's how she picked up on our language so fluently; she learned from us."

Agitos nodded before Dardemus's words registered. "Wait, she understands us fully after three weeks?"

"She had some previous knowledge on speaking our tongue. The boys and I just DOWN!" Dardemus shoved Agitos down as Rarran's knife flew straight for where their heads had been. Rarran and the female were still wrestling. Dardemus straightened and continued, "…just cleaned up her vocabulary a bit. Expanded it."

Agitos straightened as well as a very rude phrase came from the female. "I can tell," he commented drily. "Anything else about her?"

He couldn't help it; she was too strange _not_ to observe. Dardemus thought for a little bit before saying, "Eh, she's not really aggressive, not like that male," gesturing to the injured male still in the cage, "but if you push her hard enough, she'll fight. Mostly to get away, but there are exceptions."

Agitos nodded, taking in everything about this pale female before saying, "The male can still fight; he'll be in the Colosseum. Start loading the humans up in a Dread Tread for Underworld City."

He turned swiftly and exited the cages as Dardemus barked orders. He knew that, including the five that he saw, there were twenty humans that were going to be killed. Yes, there was a side-note, saying that if a human was considered worthy enough to be free by a warrior then Chaor would release that human.

Agitos snorted at that idea. All Underworlders knew that the warriors hated humans; the side-note was to entice the prey. _Although,_ he thought, as he watched as the humans were loaded in the Dread Tread, _four of them might just get lucky tomorrow._

_**A/N: Remember folks, reviews are very appreciated and I might even do requests. **  
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	6. The Kill

_**A/N: Okay, here we go. This is basically an extension to Agitos: Aggression, but this if from a human's point of view. I apologize in advance if I insult anyone in this chapter and if I get the deity wrong in connection to the location. **_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing.**_

The Kill

Holly couldn't believe what was transpiring. She and several others, including the Burma girl, the "traitors", and the man who tried to kill her, were being chained to towering pillars of stone in the Underworld Colosseum with three other men. She knew what the Underworlders were planning, knew what they were capable of, but it still didn't ease the fist in the gut when the guards from the Pits handed them over to die.

This was a new sort of sport that Holly was sure, _absolutely sure,_ that Klasp had thought up. He was the only one she knew that would think up chaining up humans and not letting the prey even properly defend themselves with weapons. She had a feeling that Chaor had only approved because it freed up some of the cells for more troublemakers and humans alike. She did know the purpose of it: to show the Underworlders that they were the best and that nothing changed that.

_Now how to get out of this was the question of the day,_ the pale woman thought, looking up at her shackled hands. The chain holding them to the pillar had pulled her hand above her head and continued up to the top of the pillar. _Now I know what Anakin and Padme felt in "Attack of the Clones", _she thought bitterly. The movie may have been horrible, but the arena scene was too much like this, except Holly's scene had boiling hot lava and various warriors wanting to gut her.

Holly looked to her right at Mike and sneered. Mike was the one who was planning on killing her once he heard that she was The Ghost, spy for the United Nations. The rat faced bastard thought that killing her would allow him to have the Burma girl, Nadi, as the traitors searched for her. Highly improbable, as Grook and Rarran would allow the other prisoners to kill him rather than Nadi face a scarring memory forever.

Looking to her right, Holly watched as Nadi struggled against the chains binding her. The girl was barely a woman, probably in her early twenties. A serpentine tattoo decorated her right bicep down to her elbow. Holly wondered how that veil continued to stay on despite how much she struggled. Those struggles diminished somewhat when Chaor announced that warriors that found worth in a human would release said human.

Holly doubted that any of the warriors charging straight for them would find any of them "worthy". Loud clangs alerted her that at least two of the other men had broken free, whether by bad chains or deliberate sabotage, Holly didn't know. Two men booked it past her and tried to go around the charging warriors.

One of them looked like a minotaur with an axe, and Holly's brain helpfully supplied "Rothar." Four others were barely on his tail as he bellowed and swung his axe in a tight arch and beheading one of the men. Another warrior with a shield and curved sword, "Bladez" Holly's brain supplied again, took out the other man. Nadi was still struggling while Mike was tugging at his chain so that the pin at the top would pop out.

Holly had a better idea. After all, what good spy didn't have a backup plan? She pushed out the bobby pin that she had hidden under her tongue to her lips; she had done it in the palace dungeons during a guard change. Grabbing the chain holding her to the pillar, she pulled herself up and grasped the bobby pin in her hand. Letting go of the chain dropped and banged her against the pillar, but at least she has a chance of escape. Quickly, she went to work on her shackles' lock.

Another set of loud clangs alerted her to more free prisoners, and the traitors rushed past her. Holly rolled her eyes at the pair before widening them. The traitors had grasped abandoned Battlegear and using them to fend off, from the looks of it, Zalvar, Kughar, and Krekk. Back to back, the traitors fought as one to beat off their opponents.

Holly snapped out of observing the fight and continued to pick at her shackles. "Come on, come on! Work with me here!" she muttered frantically, subconsciously keeping an eye on Rothar. He wasn't interested in her now, but once the other two men and Mike were dead, she and Nadi would be dead as well.

"Please, please, please," she murmured, heart racing. She quickly scolded herself. This was no time to panic! A soft pat in the soft dirt reached her ears and empty air in her hand just confirmed that her panic caused her to drop the bobby pin. "Ok, now is a good time to panic!" she muttered to herself just as Bladez rushed forward with his sword and shield.

Moving quickly, Holly maneuvered out of the way and used her skills to use her chain as a rope. Climbing to the top of the pillar, she observed that the traitors were still going strong, Rothar was attacking one of the last men in the far back pillars, Bladez was moving for the other, Nadi still struggling, and Mike was almost free if his shackles moved to his hands had anything to go by. The cheers from the crowd were deafening; the humans were giving good sport. Holly grasped the pin holding her chain and _yanked._ The pin moved enough that another good yank would free her.

A scream alerted Holly to the Colosseum floor. Mike was free, and he was advancing toward Nadi. The spy practically saw was turning in the rat's head; he was going to kill Nadi just for the fun of it before his own death. Holly gave another yank at the pin. No movement this time. Another yank before someone in the crowd shouted to look at what Mike was doing. Holly wrapped her legs around the pillar to anchor herself before yanking again. No luck. Holly watched helplessly as Mike advanced to the struggling Burma girl. One of the traitors screamed, "NADI!"

"Gah!" Mike grunted as he was flung back a good ten feet by some sort of tail. A giant, red Creature was in front of Nadi, hissing and rearing up. Holly was shocked. Not about the Creature, but over the fact that the Creature who mysteriously showed up on the battlefield was _defending a human_.

_Or he's debating on whether or not Nadi will taste good,_ Holly thought to herself, noting the Creature's body language and how he seemed to know Nadi. Did she beat him at something? Holly knew that Underworlders were sore losers, but damn.

"Time to be The Ghost and end this," Holly muttered to herself and pulled at the pin again as hard as she could. This time, the pin popped out and Holly slid from the pillar down…right on top of Rothar.

"OOOF!" they cried out, Rothar from surprise and Holly from pain. Rothar was knocked to the ground and Holly landed on his chest, legs over his shoulders and the back of her head on his abs. They both groaned in pain as Rothar raised his head first. Holly raised herself up and rubbed the back of her head to ease the pain, doing a simultaneous check on the battles around her.

The traitors had knocked out Kughar and were still on Zalvar and Krekk. The man Rothar had been fighting was dead. Bladez was trying to pull his shield out from a pillar without knocking it over. The man he had been fighting had run straight into Nadi's Creature and they were "fighting," the man still shackled and dodging at the swipes the angry Creature lashed out. Unfortunately, this put Nadi open for attack…and Mike was on his feet again, moving in. Holly quickly gathered up her length of chain enough that she could use and was about to leap into action when she realized that Rothar hadn't moved. Looking down, she noticed that Rothar was staring at a particular location on her body.

Scowling, Holly shifted her legs better so that she could dart quickly away. "Get your HEAD out of my crotch!" she screeched before kicking Rothar in the face. The grunt of pain and slick substance on her foot did nothing to detour her as she launched herself into a sprint, the length of chain she left unkinked trailing behind her.

Wrapping the chain more securely around her hands, Holly used all the experience she in wrangling and whips, courtesy of time spent in Spain and Texas, and wrapped the free end of her chain around Mike's neck. A quick snap of her wrists jerked Mike back away from Nadi, who had one hand free by now.

Mike snarled at the intrusion of his fun and Holly snapped her wrists again, jerking him again. A couple more jerks and Mike had enough. He charged and Holly kicked his face in with a good roundhouse. Mike went flying into Holly's pillar, the chain still wrapped around his neck.

Inspiration lit up Holly's head and she ran around the pillar twice, dragging the chain around his chest and pinning him to the pillar. Mike struggled to pull away from the pillar, but a swift tug pulled the chains taut around him.

Holly put a mental mask on, schooling her features to show no emotion and let Mike figure out the situation he was in. The rat man figured it out very quickly; a chain around the neck plus two chains around the chest area times a pissed off spy equals strangulation. Holly didn't even hesitate before the man tried to beg. She yanked the chain so that the entire length would tighten, cutting off Mike's air as he began to scream. She continued to pull, determined to kill Mike so that he wouldn't harm another human or Creature (the inmates in the Pits had spread stories about Mike's lust for violence) ever again.

One minute in, bones snapped. Two minutes in, his lips were turning blue. Four minutes, Mike stopped twitching completely and got heavy-lidded. Another swift tug and Holly broke Mike's rib cage in. No cries of pain, no moans. Mike was dead.

Holly panted heavily and realized that she had gone deaf. Looking around, she corrected herself because the crowd had gone silent. Zalvar and Krekk were eyeing her cautiously while the traitors were blatantly stared at her. Nadi had stopped struggling to stare at her while the Creature was still fighting with the other man left.

Holly sighed inwardly and stalked over to her pillar. Searching the ground, she picked up her bobby pin and picked the shackles successfully. Then she went over to Nadi and picked the remaining lock. Grabbing Nadi by the arm and ignoring her protests, the pale woman briskly walked toward the Colosseum's entrance, the traitors following behind her. Zalvar and Krekk didn't even try to stop them, scrambling out of the way so that their lives wouldn't have the possibility of ending like Mike's.

Holly continued out of the Colosseum, not slowing up until she was out of Underworld City and making a beeline to the nearest cavern.

Several hours and a couple of rivers later, Holly saw the entrance to Fear Valley. Stopping urptly, she didn't even turn around before calling out, "What are you two traitors' plans?"

"Traitors? Neither one of us are traitors!" the woman shouted back.

"I was actually debating on joining the UN before we were captured by the Underworlders," the man added. Holly spun around to glare at the pair. Nadi was right next to her and had stopped trying to go back to the city an hour ago.

"Are you telling me this just to appease me or were you truly considering it?" Holly snarled, the strain of the day getting to her. Before the man could answer, Nadi interrupted. "Why did you take me away from him?"

Holly turned to the girl confused. "Him?" she asked. "The Creature that knocked Mike back several feet with that tail of his? That HIM?"

"Yes. Why did you take me away from Pyrithion?" Nadi clarified. The woman of the pair screeched, "He was going to eat you and you ask that? Nadi!"

"He wasn't going to eat me. He was asking me where I've been for a month," Nadi said, an incredulous tone in her voice. "He saved me from the man from Ore who used me as a sex slave. Why shouldn't I stay with him?"

"I didn't know what his intentions were, I wasn't about to ask, and I've heard some nasty rumors about him," Holly explained, digging into her pockets. Finding the right pocket, she pulled out three bandanas and covered the pair's and Nadi's eyes despite the protesting. "Now, I trust Nadi to keep her hand on me to where we're going, but you two need to be blindfolded for your sake and the sake of my superiors."

Grabbing the pair by the arms and Nadi's hand on her shoulder, Holly marched into Fear Valley. Mentally counting the cave heads, she stopping at a particular head that looked like a horned demon. _Kinda like Chaor,_ she chortled to herself as she removed Nadi's blindfold and pointed to the mouth of the cave. Nadi raised a brow but went up anyways. Holly dragged the traitors up to the mouth of the cave before going in. Nadi followed after the spy before asking, "Why did the people from Ore call you 'The Ghost'?"

Holly chuckled before saying, "Mostly it's because of my pale complexion, but it's also because I can slip into areas that are high security unseen and slip out the same way. I'm not like some of the other Nation spies. What was your profession before you were made a sex slave?"

"I was a priestess for the goddess Manasa. Why are we in one of the Fear Valley heads?" Nadi asked nervously.

"Because not even the Creatures know about the tunnels in them, making them perfect places to camp. The only other ones that _might _know about these are the Ethereals, and they don't bother us," Holly explained as the tunnel opened up to a cavern. "Here we are."

The cavern didn't look like it held a camp full of humans, but Holly knew better. The tents were camouflaged to look like the rock walls around them, and the humans who occupied them were still nervous about the locals. Holly knew from experience that once her comrades were settled, they would be out and about in no time.

Holly hauled her prisoners toward the main tent, Nadi trotting faithfully behind. Entering the tent, she was glad to see one of her favorite tacticians in the tent.

"Captain Kalinkas! I'm home!" she exclaimed. The redhead woman looked up from the map she was studying. Pale skin like her own, with jade eyes and lithe body marked her as the delicate type. Holly knew better; Marietta Kalinkas was tough as nails and didn't pull punches. Holly fought her once and had the bruises and fractured wrist to prove it.

Marietta smiled. "Glad to see that you didn't lose any limbs. Who's the entourage?"

"Two of them possible traitors and a priestess who was used as a slave for one of Ore's commanders. I need to get them in the brig and her something good to eat," Holly explained. Marietta frowned and walked over to the tent flap, calling out a couple of names when she reached it. She took hold of Nadi's hand when the situation was explained and the traitors were taken away. Nadi looked at Holly and nodded tiredly. Before Nadi and Marietta left, the captain told her friend, "Go get some rest and report to Major Ibn Hussan in the morning and then spill your guilt to me after. You look like you've been run over by a football squad."

Holly laughed drily. "Funny, I was request the same thing. Thanks."

Marietta waved it off and took Nadi to the mess hall. Holly exited the tent and went to her own tent. Upon entering the tent, she fell onto her cot and wrapped herself in her blanket. She didn't think about the man she left behind in the Colosseum, killing Mike, or anything. She just wanted sleep. Yawning widely, she thought to herself, _I'll deal with tomorrow tomorrow.  
_

_**A/N: Reviews are the greatest thing in the world. Just a little note will do.**  
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	7. Dalgad: Healers

_**A/N: Hey, guys! I'm back for a little while. Finally finished this after sitting on my laptop for over a month. I borrowed some characters from M*A*S*H, which gave me my very limited medical knowledge (i.e. medical tools) and what inspired this chapter. Anyways, the Mipedians are next and the cycle will begin all over again. Disclaimer: I own nothing of Chaotic.  
**_

**Dalgad: Healers  
**

They didn't even know that there was a human camp on top of their hill near the reservoirs until the choppers, the ambulance, and the large bus with a white square and red cross on it came. The entire village hid inside as the human vehicles came at high speed, screeching at tight corners and roaring up the hill. Only their eyes were visible at various places by the bravest, but the humans driving were blind to all but their task.

Dalgad seethed to himself. How dare those humans claim their hill for their fights? They needed to stay away from civilians, not put them in danger! Is it not enough that Perim had to deal with the first set of humans, but now that the second faction of humans arrived, the whole war was destroying precious locations? The humans had no respect!

It wasn't until the last chopper landed and took off again for the last time that Dalgad stepped outside. He looked around cautiously before making his way to the hill. Others of the village, mostly the young and adventurous, followed his example and exited their houses. He glanced up the slope and glanced at the night sky. The choppers and ground vehicles poured in around midday and it was the middle of the night now when they went away. What sort of humans needed that many vehicles?

Dalgad frowned and waved his people back into their homes. The only structure up near the reservoirs was some sort of stone building that had been there since before the village was built. It was shaped like a letter from the human alphabet, a capital "L," he believed. Dalgad grimaced as he realized that he needed to study the human language some more if he couldn't remember what the letters were shaped as.

Mentally, he reviewed all the letters of the human alphabet, from English to Spanish to Russian to German, as he stood guard at the foot of the hill, waiting for the humans. Whatever they were planning, he would be prepared and ready to stop it.

Dawn broke sooner than he expected; he had estimated that an hour had passed before the sky began to turn pink. And no humans had shown up for a fight. Now Dalgad was plain confused. All news about humans described them as bloodthirsty, cruel, and unfeeling. In fact, there was a recent story from the Underworld about a human female killing a human male in cold blood.

Dalgad's patience finally ended and he slowly climbed up the hill in stealth mode. As he reached the crest of the hill, he belly-crawled as not to be seen by any humans that might be out. Flattening his ears, straightening his tail, and crawling forward with as much dignity as possible, Dalgad peeked over the slope to see a naked camp.

No weapons to speak of! No defenses! Not even spikes to discourage the enemy! What sort of human would do something as foolish as say out in the open with nothing to protect them? Surely they have some hidden weapons in the tents.

Dalgad crept closer, keeping low to the ground as he passed the first rim of tents. The camp was arranged in a circle with a larger than average tent in the middle and the old building a part of the circle. The grass was already being trampled down to death and dirt patches were showing up in some spots. He followed a path around the tent in the middle and was greeted to white sheets on the ground covering several some things. Voices buzzed inside the old building, and nobody was outside. What was more important inside instead of guarding these sheets? Well, it wouldn't hurt to take a _peek_, now would it?

Dalgad went over to the first sheet and lifted a corner. He frowned at the sight of feet before the sight clicked in his head. He moved up to the other end of sheet and pulled it back before stuffing a fist in his mouth to keep from screaming in horror. It was an Overworld soldier, his face having a few cuts and blood carefully wiped away. Dalgad covered the soldier's face up slowly, then repeated the courtesy to the dead's feet. He moved on to the next body, lifting the sheet and looking at the face underneath. The face was human this time, and still had baby fat on him. Dalgad's heart sank as he realized that this human didn't finish fully growing when he went to battle. He had replaced the sheet back over the nameless face when he heard movement at one end of the building behind him. Faster than he thought possible, he flew down the path and back to the crest of the hill. He watched as humans carefully picked up the dead bodies and took them inside the building, noting how reverent the invaders handled the bodies.

He had to report this to Maxxor. Quickly, he skidded down the hill to his house.

* * *

"Humans around your village? Dalgad, when did they set up camp? We've received no word from Intelligence about any new camps," Maxxor said over the transmitter crystal. Dalgad sighed.

"We don't know when they set up camp, sir. They just-popped into existence. We don't even know what their alliance is," Dalgad said. Maxxor growled low in his throat. Dalgad and every other Overworld warrior knew what that meant; while Maxxor wasn't as physical to punishments as Chaor, he can still let a Creature know when his ire's provoked. He allowed punishment creativity with his officers. Once, the special ops head allowed a rather interesting game of stickball between a punished team and the rest of the group. Dalgad heard that it was brutal, 17-2 with the punished team losing.

"Have you made contact with them?" Maxxor asked. Dalgad shook his head and said, "No, sir. They do have something to do with the dead, any dead. The only bodies I uncovered were of a human and…one of our own."

Maxxor remained silent for the dead a short time before speaking again. "You need to get help to root the humans out. There's a unit led by Staluk and Lomma near D'artan River. You'll have to go personally; there are no messengers near your village. I have a feeling that after all the activity today, the humans wouldn't expect you and the unit."

Dalgad nodded. "Understood, sir. I'll report back when we have confirmed that the humans are United or Ore!" With a final nod from Maxxor, Dalgad cut the transmission.

The D'artan River. A known Ore energy mill was situated on that river. He knew that Maxxor sent two fighting units to take care of the problem and capture any surviving humans. If Maxxor was allowing him to take one of the units, with Lomma and Staluk in it, either they won or his leader was confident enough that one unit could finish the job.

Dalgad shook his head and quickly left to go to the river after leaving orders to his best men to be on alert for enemy attacks. He just prayed to the Cothica that no trouble would come to his people while he was gone.

* * *

It was the muted _booms_ beyond the treeline that alerted Dalgad that he was near the units and the mill. Dropping from the full out run he had adopted when he hit open plain to a trot, he moved toward the sounds. He knew what they were: explosions from human "grenades."

War cries and Battlegear gears rang through his sensitive ears, and he hurried toward the sounds most familiar to him. Dalgad kept his steady trot, but anxiety nagged at him to go faster. What if the humans decided that now was the time to take over his village? What if the enemy attacked the other human camp and his people were in the crossfire? Questions constantly swirled in his head while he moved toward the mill.

He saw Lomma first. She was delivering a devastating Flash Flood against the cliff the mill was sitting on and using the river to create energy. A unit of Overworld soldiers was lined up behind cover firing Liquizers, Pyroblasters, and Cyclances against the same wall, plus the Ore soldiers who were answering the blasts with weapons of their own. Assault rifles and machine guns barked out insults and cries randomly went up as Overworlders were wounded on the line. Staluk was at the end of the line, hidden by fallen trees and sending attack after attack toward the humans. Another unit with Akkrean and Loderool was handling the battle well. Between the two units, the mill was about to fall. _No wonder Maxxor wanted me to take Lomma, Staluk and their unit,_ Dalgad thought astonished, _at this rate, there won't even be a need for clean-up!_

Dalgad rushed over to Lomma's side and shook her arm. "Lomma!" he yelled over the battle roar. Lomma stopped her attack to look at him before letting out a sharp whistle that could be heard over the noise.

"Staluk! Dalgad's here, let's go!" she ordered before following her own orders and moving away from battle. The unit of soldiers followed with Staluk bringing up the rear. They had barely made it to the forest's edge when the world exploded. Dalgad felt himself flying before the ground met his side. He felt something in his arm break and his belly burned while blood poured from a gash than was from hip to rib. He groaned as he flopped to his back, looking up at the beautifully blue sky that was fighting against the smoke of battle. Then the pain kicked in, leaving him vulnerable as he gasped for air.

Something flickered out of the corner of his eye. Carefully, oh so carefully but not enough to stop the pain, he looked and saw a boot. That boot was connected to a camouflaged covered leg, up to a camouflaged chest to a hard human face. Dalgad was barely holding on when the rifle pressed up against his face. He began to pray to the Cothica, asking for forgiveness for his past sins and to keep his village safe. He was almost done with his prayer when the human fell to the ground, his eyes glassing over in death. More human yells filled his ears as more guns fired around him. Overworlder soldiers were yelling in confusion as more humans joined them. Dalgad couldn't move as a human kneeled over him and began to yell. He didn't understand what she was yelling before he blacked out.

* * *

"Scalpel."

"Forceps."

"Pack that off."

Dalgad groggily swam back to the surface of consciousness. There were voices, but they were none that he recognized, and the accents were horrible. He opened his eyes to see a stone ceiling with a bright light surrounded by a weird metal circle thing. It was blinding him! He squinted and groaned.

"He's wake. Put him under, will you, Nurse Kelley?" a male voice said above him.

"Yes, Doctor," a female voice replied. Dalgad thrashed and sat up from…the table? He looked around and saw other humans working, pulling bloody objects from masses and watching vials of clear and red-ish brown liquid. Then he saw the first face. It was an Overworlder, his face unmasked and a black face thing covering the nose and mouth. The soldier's chest, however, was cut open to the open air. And two humans were digging in the chest area. Dalgad checked his other side and saw five more, including Lomma, on identical tables.

"What are you filthy humans doing to us?" he snarled, struggling against the hands trying to hold him down.

"Hey! We aren't filthy! We wash at least once a week!" the male voice, belonging to a human with pale skin, black hair, a straight nose, and bright blue eyes, laughed.

"Hawkeye, quit teasing him and put him under. That belly wound won't get shrapnel out on its own," another male, older with white hair and glasses taped to the white hat on his head, said. He finished with a soldier's chest at the end with a yank of something small and wiped his hands. "Alright, he's done. Stretcher!"

Immediately, two humans picked up the soldier and moved him out of the room. Dalgad snarled at how callous the older male said that the soldier was finished, like some sort of project, when another human, a female with midnight black hair, slightly tan skin, and brown eyes skid in from the opposite side of the room that the other two humans took the soldier and said, "Get the stairs! Staluk's your case, Colonel."

"Understood, Nurse Majors," replied "Colonel," nodding his head while two other humans dragged in a giant stepstool made of wood to the table. "Nurse Majors" raced back and soon Dalgad, still struggling, could hear Staluk protest against the nurse as he was lead in.

"Really, Diane! I'm fine, well, not completely fine, but I don't need to go next! There are soldiers worse than me, including those humans who saved our hide!" Dalgad noticed that Staluk was favoring his left hindquarter. Nurse Diane Majors snorted.

"We've handled all the hard cases, except Fluffy Tail over there who _won't settle down!_ It's your turn, so march up those stairs and lay down on that table!" she snarled, pointing at the open table. Staluk wilted. "But-"

"NOW!" Diane roared and Dalgad was sure that everyone jumped. Quickly, Staluk complied and limped to the table and up the stairs before folding his legs under him and leaving his bad leg free. It was covered in cuts and pus ran down the metal shrapnel imbedded deep within the flesh. Dalgad was still struggling when the mask that covered everyone else's faces was placed on and his world turned black again.

* * *

When Dalgad woke again, it was to the same stone ceiling, but the atmosphere was different. It wasn't hurried, panicked, or bloody. It smelt sterile, with a hint of earth and human to remind him where he was. He was in a human establishment, with several other comrades, injured, with no idea where he was.

It was after he realized that he and his fellow soldiers were captured that he felt the faint pressure on his arm. A cold metal circle was resting on the inside of his elbow, and he turned toward the human causing the pressure. She was checking a gauge on the fabric thing that was connected a pump with the metal circle connecting to plastic tubing that went up to metal bits in her ear. Satisfied with what she saw on the gauge, she turned a little knob near the pump and air was let out, easing the pressure on his arm while she wrote her findings on a clipboard. He looked around to see soldiers, human and Creature alike, in cot-like beds and Staluk in a body sling hanging from the ceiling.

"Ah. You're awake," the nurse said. Dalgad glared at her, but she remained unfazed. "Please don't pull your tubing out. Don't want you to die on us, and just before visiting hours too." Dalgad looked at his arms and sure enough, a clear tube ran from his arm to the clear plastic vial of water. The nurse, Dalgad recognized her as Nurse Majors, continued, "Anyways, great to finally meet you, Dalgad. Staluk told us about you and how we're near your village. The only thing you'll really need to worry about from us is if the higher-ups do something stupid and plant a mine field or something. We're only medical with only a couple of fighters."

Dalgad looked at her astonished. This unit was only medical? But he saw the dead outside their doors! And only a couple of fighters? Was his village only a shield?

Staluk, who was one of the only ones awake, chuckled at the look on Dalgad's face and explained, "Dalgad, they only have a few fighters because that's all they require. There's a code the humans follow that forbids attacking a medical unit. The fighters often just do guard duty." Here, Staluk paused and looked at the human clock. "In fact, Naomi should be getting off duty soon and visit. She took on Tangath Toborn once, so if you want to hear her side of the story."

Dalgad flicked his attention between Staluk and Nurse Majors. "Medical?" he carefully repeated. Nurse Majors nodded with a hum as she checked the human next to Dalgad. "No weapons?"

"Not that many, no. And no heavy duty machine gun weapons, either." Staluk said. He smirked. "They do learn fast. Took me only a few moons to speak our tongue when I was injured _last _time." Dalgad sighed and was about to say more when most of his village burst in with shrieks, laughs, and quite a few tears. A human male, tall and muscular, with dark brown hair and light blue eyes and tan skin like Nurse Majors, had ushered them in with a laugh, his gun hung over his shoulder.

"Hi, honey!" the man said, waving at Nurse Majors enthusiastically. Nurse Majors rolled her eyes and stood up straight as the man briskly walked over, pulled her toward him and gave her a romantic kiss. Immediately, the younger children said "ewwww" and giggled while the older children watched fascinated at the human gesture. Several wolf-whistles sounded from various beds, including Staluk.

"Anthony, you had five minutes til visiting hours. You and the rest of this lot couldn't wait that long?" Nurse Majors asked, a small smile on her lips. "Anthony" grinned a boyish grin and said "Nope" before stealing another kiss.

Dalgad, however, missed the exchanged because he was bombarded with question like "Will you have scars?" or "What had happened?" and the most popular question, "Are/Can the humans stay here?" Dalgad didn't answer any question but motioned them to settle down and be quiet. It was only then that the humans realized that he was staring at them, a bit teary eyed. Nurse Majors was the first to recover.

"Dalgad, this my husband, Sergeant Anthony Majors. Anthony, Dalgad," she introduced the two. Anthony fired off a snappy salute and said, "Pleasure to meet you, sir."

"You…let them in?" Dalgad asked quietly. Anthony frowned but nodded his head. Dalgad breathed a heartfelt "Thank you" before returning his attention to his people.

"Well," he began, "I guess they can stay."

_**A/N: Love it? Hate it? Unsure? Tell me!**_


	8. Fivarth: Tolerance

_**A/N: I have a request from WrittenWithPenciles for Wytod, so I'm breaking the cycle of human, Overworlder, Mipedian, Danian, Underworlder. No worries, I know who I'm writing about after Wytod! **_

_**Disclaimer: I own nothing.  
**_

Fivarth stood looking over the outcropping of the cliff to the latest building site that his and the other Conjurors' humans were in charge of. This project was to rebuild a school that had fallen victim to aircraft missiles after an air fight. The village that was under the fight was mainly intact with a few scorch marks, but a stray missile completely destroyed the school. Fortunately, the attack happened during the summer months, where children where helping their parents with the harvest. The UN took responsibility of rebuilding the school and the missile that destroyed it. Thus, the reason why the Conjurors' humans were there was because they were the closest engineers, area wise.

Fivarth remembered how he and the other Conjurors met up with the humans. Being nomads, they had been heading to a familiar campsite that they would hide at. It was nestled in a canyon and had an oasis near the mouth. They were extremely surprised when they found their little niche occupied by humans. They became even more surprised when the humans weren't afraid of them, and were only a little shocked at their Warbeasts when the Conjurors summoned them.

The Conjurors didn't know what to make of the strange behaviors, so they stayed away. They had made camp on outskirts of the oasis, just far enough that they wouldn't in range of any weapons but close enough to watch and get water. However, the humans seemed to guard the water all the time, so they were not able to get water. By the third day, the outcast Mipedians were out of water and running out of choices. That was when the humans took action.

They had brought water from the oasis and made sure that the Conjurors drank slowly. They shared most of their food (Fivarth shuddered in memory of pudding), and treated them with respect. Slowly, the Conjurors began to trust them and within a couple of moons humans and Mipedians were living in the same camp, even in the same tent. Fivarth was tent-mates with Samson and his wife, Megan. Megan was a little lighter than Samson, but full of muscle, with strawberry blonde hair, and sun kissed skin. It was peaceful for half a moon, then Sobtjek showed up. All the Conjurors went into a panic while the humans trapped Subtjek in a cave and interrogated him.

Fivarth remembered getting into a fight with Megan about leaving and how they didn't want the Conjurors to leave. She had gotten so angry that she started to threaten him, even though they didn't know each other's language.

"If you lot leave," she had snarled, "I'll find you and poke you and annoy you with bothersome questions that you don't understand until you come back to us."

He had argued. "You'll be caught and tortured until you give up our location. They hunt us down because we are a danger!" She must have had recognized his tone and fired back, "Just because you create creatures from your hands doesn't mean that you're wrong and they're right. It just means that you're different."

"You do know that I'm not listening to you, right Meg?" he had said nonchalantly as he stuffed a knickknack into a sack. Two hands had gently grasped his muzzle and he looked into Megan's hazel eyes. She made the sign for "repeat after me," two fingers circling towards her. Fivarth had sighed and nodded.

"My talent…" Megan began. Fivarth repeated, though a bit brokenly.

"Of conjuring…"

"Off…con…jur…ing."

"Is NOT…"

"Is…not…"

"Wrong or freaky."

"Wrong…or frea…ky." Fivarth didn't know what "orfreaky" meant in Perimian, but he knew what "wrong" was. Why did Megan say that his and the others' conjuring wasn't wrong? Did they have something similar to Conjurors?

Megan made him say it several more times, but he didn't understand completely why she made him say the phrase over and over again. It did make him feel better though.

Eventually, Sobjtek's interrogation was concluded and the camp found out that he spoke enough English to translate. He even translated Megan's threat for her to the Conjurors. Eventually, a deal was made between Sobjtek and the humans; he would teach the Conjurors the human language, English, and the humans would learn Perimian. It had been difficult at first, but soon they were able to speak and insult each other playfully. It was still hard, but it was manageable. Then Vinta had showed up.

Fivarth frowned at this memory. He and the other Conjurors knew better than to leave, and it was nice to stay in one place for as long as they have. But he was worried that Vinta would tell Prince Mudeenu where they were and the prince decided to attack. The Conjurors would defend _their_ humans from attackers. After all, they were just engineers.

Slight crunches in the sand caught his attention and Megan's scent drifted up to him. Fivarth turned to see the woman puffing up to him. Her heavy muscles were great for lifting, but not for climbing up sand dunes.

"Hey!" Meg called in Perimian as she came up next to him. Fivarth smiled and gave a nod in greeting.

"How's the school coming along?" he asked in English. She laughed and said, "Yeah, it's almost done! We need to finish the east wall and the roof. Good call on using stone and cement rather than clay. It's staying together better."

"Even better than your metal?" Fivarth asked with a small grin. Megan glared at him. Originally, the humans were going to make a building almost completely of metal with vents to let heat escape, but the Conjurors and Sobjtek talked them out of it.

"Yes, even better than metal," Megan groused, rolling her eyes. Fivarth sobered up a little bit, reminding himself that Megan still had a temper. Being around Samson mellowed her a bit, but he still remembered her threat of hunting them down if they had left. He had also seen her chew out a fellow worker when he vented about "stupid lizards and farmers."

"But I have a question," she continued, completely serious.

"Answer."

"Do you have apprentices? Or have kids around in general?" she asked tentatively. Fivarth glanced at her in surprise before averting back to the building site.

"Why do you want to know?" he asked carefully. Megan shrugged. "How do you pass on your knowledge of conjuring? Do your Warbeasts pass on to someone else or do you not have a set partner?"

Fivarth stared at her for a minute before remembering that staring was considered rude to humans. He looked away before saying, "Conjurors usually take orphans with high mugical energy. They live with their masters until they go on a spiritual coming of age journey. There, they acquire their Warbeasts and rejoin us as an adult."

Megan nodded solemnly and looked over site. Fivarth watched as the humans lazed about on their hour long lunch break. Then he casually asked, "What are you and Samson thinking?"

If he wasn't adapt in reading his humans, he would have missed how Meg's eyes widen only a fraction, her face paled, and a slight swallow in her throat signaled her nervousness. They had been married for three years and only been on Perim for twelve moons, a solan, a year in their case, but they were thinking of a child? Were their lives that short?

"We were wondering why there were no women in your group. It was just you and other males. Are Conjurors sex addicts towards females?" Megan explained. Fivarth felt the scales on his head rise in alarm and tail twitch in anger. Sex addicts! He and the other Conjurors had no relations with Mipedian females in avoiding the Royals, didn't she know that?

"Sex addicts! If anything, that description fits you and Samson and the rest of the humans! And quit changing the subject!" he snarled at her. Megan looked at him confused before realization lit up her face.

"Sexists! Not sex addicts, sexists! It means that you think that certain roles should remain with females, like housekeeping and cooking, and certain roles should remain with males, like fighting and building. Sorry, still having trouble with your tongue," Megan explained. Fivarth's scales flatted at her explanation. A wrong word, he should have known. The humans still had a little bit of trouble when it came to words that sound similar to each other but couldn't get the tone emphasis right. Samson described the Perimian language a "mix between Chinese, Spanish, and Russian."

"I'm sorry, Megan. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that," Fivarth apologized to her, tail stilling. Then he pressed, "Really, why the sudden interest?"

He curiously watched as Megan looked around like she had some very important information to divest. While Samson and she were playful, she was the more serious of the two. It must be very serious if she was on the look-out for eavesdroppers. Finally, she faced him completely and whispered, "Samson and I are thinking about after the war, what we would do."

Fivarth raised an eyebrow at that. He knew exactly what she was talking about: a child. Every species had that urge to raise a child, and Megan and Samson were old enough to know what they were getting into. So why were they hesitating?

"Besides doing what every warrior does when coming home; getting drunk, meeting with lovers to do unspeakable things?" Fivarth let his words hang over her head and grinned as she blushed.

"You know what I mean!" she yelped, trying to control her blush.

"A child, yes. But why not now? Are your wars that short that you do not bear children until they're over? How do you replenish your ranks?" Fivarth asked. Megan sighed.

"Most wars now are only a few years at least, a decade at most," she explained. "But I don't want my child constantly looking over his or her shoulder so that death won't claim him or her. Not only that, but if we have to leave when the war's over through the ships, then they'll die. The cryo would kill them."

Fivarth reflected on that knowledge before sighing and nodding. "I understand. Although," his eyes twinkled with mischief, "with you and your husband's track record, I'd be more concerned with _your_ child escaping and exploring constantly rather than them dying by a gun."

Megan gave him a look that was part "I'm insulted!" and part "that's probably true." Then her face smirked and she nodded. They settled into a comfortable silence before Megan went back to working on the school.

* * *

It was two moons until the school was finished building and furnishing inside. Fivarth watched over the construction on the same hill. He watched as sandstorms rolled materials and stuffed up machines. He helped when a rogue band of bandits tried to attack the army camp. And now was the inspection of the school.

Invisibility engaged, Fivarth stood on the hill. Sobjtek was with the crowd, acting as ambassador to the human higher-ups, a Lieutenant Colonel Simmons and a one-star general named Norton. MPs secured the perimeter while keeping an eye on the inspection. The village had protested at first, saying that one group of humans was enough around them, but in the end they ignored the general and lieutenant colonel while interacting with the engineers.

Fivarth watched the line of MPs cautiously when he heard the crunch of sand that _didn't_ belong to any of the Conjurors' humans. He had lived long enough with them to know which crunch belonged to whom in the camp. Carefully, he crept down the hill to see a lone gunner lining up a rifle to the school's entrance. The entrance that was currently filled with the body of the general. Fivarth attacked.

The rifle went off and hit the wall a foot away from the general. Immediately, MPs surrounded the general and lieutenant colonel and raised their own weapons. Fivarth rolled away as the human tried to hit him with the butt of his rifle. Fivarth leapt to his feet and slashed at the human's face. The enemy screamed and clutched his face as blood ran free and heavy. More bullets hit the sand behind him and beyond and Fivarth turned to see Ore soldiers charging toward them. Screams erupted as engineers were hit and MPs returned fire.

Fivarth quickly did a head count of warriors on the UN side and warriors on the Ore side. His heart sank as the Ore numbers dominated the UN. They would be crushed. Fivarth knew what he had to do. Conjure Uboraan and destroy the Ore soldiers. But that meant risking ridicule, intolerance from his engineers. Would he risk that or save his own skin and pride by becoming invisible and leaving? He did not know if his fellow Conjurors heard the shots and were coming to the rescue. He knew that Sobtjek was attacking as well and risked a look back at the group.

The MPs had a few casualties, but no fatalities, but his engineers weren't faring well. Only a few had experience with weapons and were currently firing at the Ore soldiers. But what shocked him was the sight of Megan bleeding at the shoulder as Samson tried to stop the flow of blood. He stared as the sand kicked up and a mirage appeared. It took the shape of a very short human, with Samson's dark hair and nose and Megan's hazel eyes. The face had a large amount of baby fat and the body was clothed in Mipedian garb.

The mirage watched Fivarth intently before another gust of wind blew it away. Fivarth shook his head and made his decision. He didn't know if the sand image was just a mirage or a vision of the future, but he got the message. He raised his hands and felt the familiar _(oh so familiar, how he missed it!)_ energy race down his arms. Lights danced around his hands and reached for the sky. FIvarth closed his eyes as he heard the gasps of the general and lieutenant colonel and the MPs behind him, focusing on conjuring Uboraan and keeping his warbeast's fury in check.

Uboraan erupted from the bubble of light energy with a roar, a massive paw landing on either side of Fivarth. The bond between warbeast and Conjuror was so strong that Uboraan understood what Fivarth wanted. A Cyclone Slam flew out to the enemy, sending several flying. A few that hadn't stopped in horror fired off their guns. The bullets didn't even pierce Uboraan's armor, and he snapped a few up before shaking his head viscously. The humans died in the warbeast's jaws, and he let the bodies drop to the sand. Fivarth thought, _One more attack should do it._ An image of humans with tails tucked and running on all fours yipping away from him and Uboraan popped into his head. With a small amount of glee, he sent the image to Uboraan and heard the warbeast's chuckle in his head. Fivarth shoved his amusement down and ordered one more attack. Uboraan followed through with Fivarth's order and unleashed a Megaroar. The soundwaves sent the enemy flying, killing more humans. The rest of Ore's troops fled, unwilling to face the warbeast and his Conjuror.

Fivarth snorted as Uboraan lay down beside him and he absently placed a hand on the warbeast's shoulder. A sudden explosion hit him in the back, toppling Fivarth over. It took a minute to realize that it was just Bayley, a pale elder woman with greying hair and too many emotions. He twisted in her grip and patted poor woman's back.

"Easy, old girl," he murmured, "it's going to be all right." A flicker of movement caused his attention to be directed to Uboraan and the rub down he was receiving from Samson and Megan. More of the engineers emerged and hugged him and Uboraan. The general and colonel with their MPs avoided him as medics saw to the injured. Sobjtek nodded his approval as the other Conjurors came to a skidding halt at the sight of Fivarth and Uboraan receiving a hero's reward. Fivarth looked at them and shrugged.

It looked like they were going to be there even longer with their human family.

_**A/N: Too sappy? Overdone? Don't really know? Tell me! Review!**_


	9. Wytod: Holiday

_**A/N: Extremely late for these holidays, but I didn't want to wait until after Valentine's Day. So, WrittenWithPencils, your Wytod request. **_  
**_And the usual disclaimer: I own nothing!  
_**

**Wytod: Holidays  
**

It was supposed to be a normal day, a normal routine of duty. Patrol was something that all soldiers had to do, no matter if the soldier was the most inexperience scholar or the hardened veteran. Many times, patrol was considered an excuse to escape for a little while from the unit with a few others. Nothing really happened on patrol. But sometimes, action had a way of sneaking up on anyone.

Wytod continued to fire at the Ore camp with his Aichstick, determined to get rid of the camp once and for all. It was located near the destroyed energy mill near Dalgad's village. It seemed like Ore wanted to have the mill up and running again by the time spring came around. He, Arias, and the rest of their squad had ambushed the camp, but the superior firepower of Ore was causing their cover to deteriorate. Now Wytod wished that Tangath Toborn was with them, but he was back in their camp keeping everything in order.

A sharp pain ripped through Wytod's abdomen. With a sharp yell, he fell to the ground, clutching his left side. Arias noticed that his Overworlder was down and in the open and quickly ordered two of the squad to cover Wytod. One soldier was immediately hit in the thigh and went down. The other soldier made it to him and continued to fire his Cyclance. Wytod still had his Aichstick in his hand and contributed to the fight. He only got a few shots off when shadows surrounded him and began to beat him. All he saw were the blue grey uniforms of the Ore soldiers and heard the sickening thuds of flesh meeting flesh. Pain wrapped itself around him. Wytod instinctively curled up into a ball, trying to protect his vital organs. Then a hard object hit him in the head, near his temple, and everything went black.

* * *

It was the humming that brought him back to the land of the living. Soft yet persisting, it called Wytod's mind with its strange vocals and barely perceived words. A harsh smell burned his nostrils, the clean air of the outdoors cut off from him. He had never smelled anything like it before. Other smells bombarded his sensitive nose, trying to grab his attention. The most prominent was blood, both coppery human and rusty Creature. But the other scents were strange to him, and curiosity was nagging at him to see who was humming and what was going on.

Gingerly, he opened his eyes to an artificial light blazing overhead. With a sinking heart, he realized that he was held captive by humans. As if the day couldn't get any worse.

Looking around him, Wytod noticed the numerous cots with clipboards, something that he had seen before, hanging at the foot of the cots. Humans and Creatures alike rested in the beds, and it looked like most of the patrol squad occupied most of them. There were two humans moving around the room, both female. They both had black hair, but one of the females looked like she had copper skin. The other only had slightly tan skin. The tan one was humming as she checked the people in the beds. The copper one was busy hanging things on the walls, looking serene in her environment. The walls themselves were covered in snowflakes, wreaths with red berries, and strange red stockings with white fur or wool. Wytod looked at the foot of his cot and saw the chain of strange white puffy things wrapped around the poles holding the clipboard.

He shifted to see better and felt a slight pain in his arm. A needle connected to a tube and a plastic bag full of clear liquid was in his arm.

"Ah, you're awake!" The humming female had seen him move and was coming over to him. Wytod was surprised at how well she spoke Perimian. "Good to see you with your eyes open; we were starting to get worried about you, being asleep for that long."

A snort sounded from across the room. Wytod looked at Arias, who was in a cot across from him, in surprise. The ram-like Creature glared at the female and said, "You only want him awake for your _prison exchange!_"

The humming human frowned at him, but the copper human growled in Perimian. "Really? Is that all you care about?" She hopped off the chair she was perched on and continued while walking to Arias, "Here you are, in a cot, your wounds being treated, and you're griping? You could be bled out, dead, if it wasn't for these medics and nurses. You should be grateful."

Arias laughed bitterly and said, "Grateful? You will shuffle us off for more of your own once the terms are reached. And then you'll try to kill us again on the battlefield! We're better than you, anyways!"

"Ore tries to kill you, not the UN! If you guys stop trying shoot us in the back, it would be better for both Creatures and the United Nations! And last time I checked, I defeated your precious Overworld General with one of my tranquilized arrows!" the copper one challenged. Arias growled and about to respond when a new voice, male, cut in.

"Naomi, that's enough!" an old man with white hair and a white coat ordered. The copper one, Naomi, growled and returned to her chair to hang more things on the wall. The old man motioned the humming one away with a "Nurse Majors" and sat down next to Wytod.

"Wytod, my name is Colonel Potter. I'm the CO of this medical unit," the old man explained. Wytod nodded nervously and said, "I understand that we are a part of a prisoner exchange?"

The colonel sighed and nodded. "It won't be until after the New Year, however." Wytod sighed and was about to nod as well, resigned to the actions of war, when Colonel Potter's words truly rang in his head.

"Wait, New Year? What human custom is this?" he asked hesitantly. Colonel Potter replied, "It's a celebration of an ending and a new beginning. Our calendar works as kind of a rotation. When December, which is the month we're in now, ends in a couple of weeks, January starts the year once more."

"So, the exchange isn't going to happen until after your celebration of the 'New Year'? Why do you have to wait until then? Why not now?" Wytod snarled, unhappy that the human celebration would be in the way of getting his freedom faster.

"Because several of you, including yourself, had massive belly and head wounds that need to heal fully before moving out. We don't want those stitches and staples to be pulled out. And your buddy across from you isn't making a good impression with the Comanche. He keeps this up, we'll keep you longer than after the New Year. Clear?" Colonel Potter said with iron control in his voice. Wytod searched the human's eyes and saw no humor in them. The deer-like Creature growled but nodded. The colonel nodded and left to continue what he was doing before. Wytod sank against his pillows with a sigh.

Nurse Majors had continued to check the other patients while the other woman, Naomi, continued to hang objects on the wall. Wytod frowned at Naomi's actions and asked, "What are you putting those up for?"

Naomi didn't turn around but replied, "For Christmas and the rest of the holidays. We'll be celebrating them as well as the New Year."

"Christmas? Other holidays?" Wytod asked confused. Naomi turned and was about to explain when a cold air rushed in as little footsteps pattered on the hard floor. Wytod turned to see several children from Dalgad's village running, giggling and waving pieces of parchment, straight for the humans. Arias quickly snatched up a child before he reached Naomi. The woman frowned before a child jumped into her arms.

"Mrs. Diane!" a child giggled from the nurse's arms. "Can you tell us another story about Santa Clause, please? _Please?_"

Nurse Majors laughed and asked, "Which one do you kids want?" Immediately, children's voices clambered up for one story or another. Wytod and Arias were then subjugated to stories of Santa Clause, flying _rain-deer_, a red sleigh, a child born in a barn, and so many more. Wytod hung on every word the nurse uttered. Other nurses and doctors bustled in and out, checking on the other patients. Arias let the child go and let him color with the other children. Naomi had finger paints for the children to use on the pieces of parchment. When dark came and the children left to go back to the village, the nurse and woman finished decorating the room.

When Nurse Major and Naomi left, Wytod looked at Arias. The ram-like Creature had glared at Naomi the entire time she was entertaining the children and finishing the decorations. Wytod knew that his friend would refuse to say anything unless prodded and said, "Why do you dislike the woman, Naomi? I know that you dislike everything about this situation in general, but why her in particular?"

Arias snorted and replied, "Remember the story I told you and the rest of the barracks about the Skeletal Steed's return, the one from the borderlands?" Wytod nodded and Arias continued, "Well, she was the one who stole it in the first place, and she returned it. She claims that she traded it with her knife, as her people's 'custom,' but I don't think that it was a fair 'trade.' We've been at each other's throats since."

Wytod stared his old friend for a few seconds before he trusted himself to speak. "You've been in a bad mood, and thrusting it onto others, because of a theft that happened _moons_ ago? Arias, really! I thought you would want to know why she thought the knife was a fair trade. But instead, you're causing an argument with her and her people during a season where it's _relaxing and happy_. Well, I hope you know how rude you're being!"

And with that, Wytod turned over and promptly went to sleep, allowing Arias to stew over his actions.

* * *

Over the next week, Wytod watched as Arias avoided Naomi and the humans in general. He wasn't ignoring them, but didn't speak to them unless was spoken to first. Therefore, the doctors, except for a Major Burns, did their best to "bring him out of his shell," as they said. The nurses did the same, including Nurse Majors, who insisted on calling her Diane. Her husband, Sergeant Anthony Majors, was one of the guards. He was constantly in and out of the post-op ward, Wytod learned, visiting with the patients and healers. Anthony tried to say hello to everyone, but sometimes was not able to.

Dalgad and his villagers had the run of the place. They constantly ran around the camp, Wytod heard, but respected the privacy of the tents. They were trying to teach the money system to the humans, but it wasn't going as well as they were hoping. Wytod, though bedridden, did his best to help with the currency lessons.

Everyone was so excited for Christmas. The priest, Fr. Mulcany, was all the buzz about the celebrations and was constantly decorating. He even put up red and white things called stockings! The children of the village were constantly in and out, asking questions and visiting the wounded, from the UN to Creature. They discussed presents that they had made for their family members and friends.

Finally, Christmas Eve arrived. Fr. Mulcany was busy with religious services the whole day and into the night. Wytod, Arias, and the other wounded for the prisoner exchange were allowed to walk around and attended the midnight service, as a cultural experience. The children went to bed early, eager for the morning to come and giving and receiving presents.

Wytod awoke the next morning, Christmas morning, to bells. Confused, he sat up in his cot to see a little creature in a harness pulling a cart full of wrapped gifts. Hawkeye, as the camp called him, was dressed up in what had to be the being the humans kept telling the children, Santa Claus. The little creature, a miniature horse with a brown body and black mane and tail, was well known by the patients with his "bad" habit of sneaking into the post-op ward. Poor Buckwheat, all he wanted to do was visit, but would be constantly chased out by the nurses for "not being clean." Fake fuzzy antlers were tied to his bridle and a wreath of bells circled his neck. From the way he acted, Wytod thought that Buckwheat didn't care!

"Ho ho ho! Merry Christmas!" Hawkeye cried, enjoying the cheers of delight at the sight of the brightly wrapped gifts. Wytod couldn't help but laugh as a couple of packages were placed on his lap and the wounded cautiously ripping opening the paper to see what was for them. Wytod was surprised by his gifts: a drawing pad and pencils. Not many people knew about his hobby, and he looked over at Arias. Arias just shrugged, but Wytod could see the twinkle in his eyes.

"Thank you," he whispered to his friend. Arias made no indication that he heard except for a quirk of a smile. The rest of the soldiers were pleased with their gifts as well: puzzles, games, food, and the occasional cloth items, whatever they are.

Christmas dinner was served in bed, but Wytod didn't care. There was so much to try! Strawberries, bananas, pumpkin bread and pie, ham, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, pheasant, goose, turkey, and so many other human things to try. The humans tried their hand at Perimian cooking as well, but the dishes didn't look as well as the others. Still, Wytod didn't care. It may be a human thing, but Christmas was wonderful!

The rest of the day passed as normal, children running around in freshly fallen snow while the adults watched. The humans performed their usual duties, and those off-duty played outside with the children. Colonel Potter allowed Wytod to go outside as long as he didn't injure himself any further.

All in all, it was a wonderful day.

* * *

When Wytod heard about New Year's from Colonel Potter, he was expecting a quiet party after the rambunctiousness of Christmas. He wasn't expecting people gathering outside, in the cold, with blankets, food, and alcoholic beverages (provided by Hawkeye's still, made up of mish-mashed parts) waiting for midnight to come around while the only working radio played human music. He and the other soldiers for the prisoner exchange were allowed to come outside in the cold as long as they had a way to stay warm. Wytod opted to stay near one of the fires created for the occasion. Arias had decided to take his sleeping blanket with him.

Diane and Anthony saved a seat for Wytod near the fire fifteen minutes to the countdown to midnight. Arias sat near Hawkeye and the colonel, talking about the prisoner exchange in two days' time. Wytod didn't want to talk about the exchange at the moment. He wanted to soak up the cultural differences in celebrations. While Creatures had a small handful of celebrations, they preferred them quiet, humble, and in public. Humans, on the other hand, seemed to wanted everything loud, extravagant, and with family and friends.

"So, what happens at midnight on your world? On Earth?" Wytod asked curious. "How different is it going to be?" Diane shrugged and said, "Not much of a difference really. There's just no Times Square to watch as the ball drops. And before you ask, the ball is a massive circle with lights inside that change colors."

Anthony added, "There are music artists who play their songs while waiting for the ball to drop. People often have parties in their homes with friends and family, like what we're having now." Wytod looked at the human couple and cautiously asked, "We're…friends?" He only thought of himself as a patient, but a friend? Well, he did know that Hawkeye and his friend Captain BJ Hunnicut didn't get along with Major Burns in their so-called Swamp, aka their tent. And that the colonel ordered extra supplies for trade with Dalgad and his villagers. And that….okay, he could see himself being friends with these people. He smiled and said, "Friends."

Suddenly, he heard cheers and applause as the camp began to shout, "Ten…nine…eight…seven…" Wytod, the other patients, and the village joined in, "six…five…FOUR…THREE…TWO…ONE!" As soon as the countdown finished, fireworks sailed the skies and exploded. Wytod had seen fireworks before at Perimian celebrations, but they were nothing compared to human fireworks. Human fireworks had _designs_: waterfalls, big and little circles, glitter, screamers, and even smiley faces. Colors of all kinds spread through the skies. The loud explosions were jarring at first, but the colors and patterns quickly vanquished the fear of being bombed.

Wytod looked around him and instantly knew where his next vacation was going to take place after getting back to his squad.

_**A/N: Like it? Hate it? Want more or want it to stop? Review!**_


	10. Skartalas: Saboteurs

_**A/N: Skartalas was requested by Guest and ladyanaconda. Next up is going to Drakness and his work with Intelligence. And before you ask, there won't another so soon after this one. If Skartalas was an ass, then Drakness is going to be an absolute Bastard. Also, I don't care about you think about abortion, this is just for the culture shock! I don't want to hear anything about rights, burns, ect. The usual disclaimer: I do not own Chaotic and therefore make no money from this, sadly.** _

**Skartalas: Saboteurs  
**

There were many cases in Danian history were Battlemasters failed under unusual circumstances and Mandiblors made fun of, ridicule, and even had songs made up about. Like the time a squad of Mandiblors and their Battlemaster died in battle because of a flash flood and the enemy remained high and dry. Or the time the Overworlder border children baited their traps with sweets and captured an entire company of Mandablors and their commander. _This,_ Skartalas thought darkly, _will probably top the Danian history tomes._

It had been a couple of moons since the start of the human interaction experiment began. Skartalas didn't participate much in watching the humans, preferring to strategize battle plans and continue his rivalry with Van Bloot of the Underworld. The black and red Danian only heard bits and pieces of what they were like: hardy, stubborn, great hiders, and very mischievous. That was evidence enough with all the pranks that happen constantly during the experiment. There was the hot pepper incident, the foresight cookie incident, and so many more.

But then the humans had been quiet for a couple of weeks. No pranks, no movement, nothing. Raznus and Lore had been highly disappointed that the humans had remained hidden from them. They thought that the humans had caught on what they were doing and decided to remain hidden as a way of defiance. Skartalas had let them moan and groan about not learning more about them, but didn't pay attention. He didn't even read the notes about the interactions between human and human.

Now he regretted it. He foolishly walked into the human camp after chasing the Underworld spy, H'earring. Not five paces after stepping into their camp, Skartalas felt the cold metal of a human gun against his head. H'earring managed to escape; the details on how he did escaped Skartalas at the moment. The gun held his full attention at the moment.

"Don't move," a female voice warned in Perimian. "This is a M40 sniper rifle. I know that you don't know what this is or what it can do, but I can assure you, it won't be pretty." Skartalas could barely breathe. He had heard what happened to the Ore vehicle. He imagined his head exploding like that and barely suppressed a shudder.

The voice commanded, "Hands behind your head." Skartalas complied. "Move forward, _slowly_." Again, he complied. The rifle didn't move from his head the entire time. He moved forward until the voice said, "Stop. Turn left." He did so. "Forward." Again, he moved and realized that he had been directed to one of the camouflaged tents. He entered the tent and was to see it empty except for rope. A push from the rifle "encouraged" him to continue forward and into the center pole. The rifle slowly turned around his head until it rested against his temple. It tilted, giving Skartalas the idea that the handler was stooping down to grab some of the rope. The rifle tilted back up against his temple and the voice hissed, "Hands against the post. Now!"

Skartalas did as he was told, keeping a few choice words behind his beak. This was no time to antagonize the human! The human kept the rifle to his head in one hand with some difficulty and the other hand tied him to the post. Despite the difficulty of the situation, the human had made the knots tight against the pole, effectively preventing him from going anywhere. The rifle moved away enough that he could see his captor.

The human female was barely five feet tall. Her blonde hair was short, but was pulled into a small ponytail. Her pale skin was dirty, signaling that possibly nobody in the camp might haven't had the chance or option of a bath. The uniform she was wearing was starting to tatter and wear down. But her eyes, her eyes were green fires that sparked determination. The scowl that marred her face and those eyes helped pin him to the pole, with a small amount of fear.

The woman walked back over the tent flap, rifle still trained on him, and whistled. "We gotta hitch!" she called out. Skartalas raised an eyebrow when he didn't hear anyone coming, but stiffened when a knife pressed itself against his throat and a male voice asked, "And who is your guest, dear?"

The woman turned and said, "He's from the pillar. Found him in camp, Thomas. They know that we're here." The knife pressed closer to his throat. "How long have you known we were here?" the male voice asked.

Skartalas decided that the truth was probably was for the best. It might even help Raznus and Lore in their research…maybe. "We knew that you were here for a while now. A couple of moons, in fact."

"Damnit!" Skartalas was shocked to see another woman with frizzy black hair and skin appear out of nowhere. A few more human curses came out of her mouth along with a few Danian curses as well. She paced a bit before asking, "How did you find us?"

Skartalas shugged. "Pure luck. One of the Squadleaders stumbled upon you while on patrol. He was shocked that you even made it this far into Danian territory. He acted like it was a normal patrol because he didn't want to scare you away prematurely."

The knife didn't let down, but he could feel all three pairs of eyes drilling into his head. He didn't know what look the male had on behind him, but the females had narrowed eyes and distrust written on their faces. Finally, the dark female said, "Thomas, away from him. He may be some use to us."

The knife removed itself from Skartalas's neck and the male moved around to Skartalas's front. The man, Thomas, gave him the same look of distrust the two women wore. Skartalas stifled a gasp at the sight of him. It was the human that destroyed the Ore vehicle! He had heard about what transpired that day. He was as pale skinned as the woman who found him, his earth brown hair cropped short around his head, and his sky blue eyes were hard. The man stopped next to the blonde woman who had captured him. The dark woman turned to the blonde woman and began, "Elizabeth-"

"I know, Imani. Since he's my prisoner, I have to feed him, let him use the latrine, and guard him while making sure that my weapons are battle-ready before our mission," the blonde woman said, a slight harshness edging her voice. Thomas continued to glare at Skartalas.

"He'll also be with you for the mission as well," Imani added. "New intelligence came in from Captain Kalinkas and her informant. The Ore base near here managed to get their mittens on some fuel. We're stealing it for ourselves so that we can survive. _He_ can get the fuel."

Elizabeth nodded. "Understood." Imani gave Skartalas another glare before exiting the tent on silent feet. Skartalas wondered how they did that. He had heard that some humans went barefoot, but these people wore clunky boots, and yet they were absolutely silent. Elizabeth flicked her eyes toward Thomas and nodded before exiting as well. That was all he saw before Thomas's fist came out and connect to his head. Then it was just black.

* * *

When Skartalas woke up, with a pounding headache, he was no longer tied to the post. He was, however, still unable to move; they hobbled his back right leg. His captor, Elizabeth had set up two cots with blankets on both. One cot was surrounded by different weapons and equipment. He recognized the M40 that had caught him in the first place, a few more rifles, some hand Battlegear, and what looked like human Nexus Fuses.

Elizabeth herself was busy polishing one of the hand Battlegear, its parts scattered on the blankets in some sort of order that Skartalas couldn't make out. A small fire was going and a kettle was over it. When Elizabeth finished her polishing and put the Battlegear back together was when she finally acknowledged that he was awake.

"Bet you have a splitting headache," she began as the kettle began to whistle. Skartalas flinched at the noise and relaxed when the kettle was taken off the fire. The woman gathered a cup and a packet of something and poured hot water into the cup. The packet soon followed and a finger forced it to the bottom of the cup.

"This is a tea made of Overworld herbs that'll take care of that," she said, continuing on about his headache. "A nurse friend of Captain Kalinkas's discovered the right herbs to kill any headache, Creature or human. It's safe to drink." With that, she offered him the cup. He took the cup gingerly, as his hands were still bound together, and sipped the tea. The mixture of herbs made it slightly bitter, but still tasted good. He downed the rest of it, not caring about the heat.

The tent flap opened and Thomas entered the tent. He was carrying some human Battlegear with him and some sort of paper with little writings on it. He cast a look of distrust toward Skartalas and sat down next to Elizabeth. Elizabeh gave him a long-suffering look, but a smile was teasing her lips.

"You know that I can take care of myself, Thomas dear," she said, returning her attention to her Battlegear. Thomas put all his Battlegear aside and shrugged his shoulders before dragging Elizabeth onto his lap, causing her to drop her disproving act and laugh.

"I know," he said simply. "Doesn't mean that I can't check up on you. Besides, you said that you wanted the news." With that, he flourished the strange paper, smirking. Skartalas looked at the strange rectangle of paper with surprise. That contained their news? Their connection to the outside world? That little scrap?

Elizabeth huffed and reached for the paper. Thomas simply moved it away from her. She began to climb over him and it turned into a wrestling match. Skartalas watched as the paper floated and separated into a mess of paper. He frowned and picked up a sheet. Not only did it have human words on it, but it also had pictures, both in color and black and white. He began to look closely at one of the pictures when the page was snatched from his hands; the wrestling match had ended while he was looking.

Elizabeth straightened the page out and was about to lay it with the other pages when something caught her eye. Skartalas watched as she frowned and said, "'High Command Bans Pregnancy'?"

"What?" Thomas yelped, straightening from gathering some of the more wayward pages. Skartalas perked up at that. Banning pregnancy? Humans were crazier than he originally thought! Straightening the paper, Elizabeth went into the article. Skartalas listened intently as she became more and more irritated. Apparently, the human general Henry Evans had proposed the order in order to prevent more deaths, pointing out the "dangers of cyrostasis" if a woman was to be pregnant while being rotated back to their Earth. Therefore, women were to be put on a strict regimen of birth control and "safe sex," whatever that meant.

"Any woman found pregnant will be forced to have an abortion, no matter what term they are in," Elizabeth finished, her hands shaking. Skartalas frowned at "abortion," not familiar with the human word. What did it mean? A more important question popped into his head. How did these people learn Perminian? From the time that they've been here until now, it looked like they were completely isolated.

"Where did you learn Perminian and what does 'abortion' mean?" Skartalas asked. The two humans looked at him in surprise. Perhaps they thought that he would remain silent until they needed to use him for…whatever their mission was.

"Perminian? We learned it before setting up camp here from an Underworld camp," Thomas explained. "That camp was near Cordac Falls Plungepool. They aren't there anymore."

Skartalas rolled his eyes. That was unimportant. "You answered one part of my question. What does 'abortion' mean?" he asked again. He was met with silence. Elizabeth and Thomas gave each other nervous glances. Then they looked at him with nervous eyes. Then they looked at each other again. Skartalas growled and said, "Whatever it is, it can't be as bad as what _my_ kind do; taking others and turning them into Danians."

Elizabeth looked at him and said, "Does your kind kill hatchlings?" Skartalas was surprised. "No. Each hatchling is taken care of in the incubation chambers, and when they hatch, they are divided among the tribe to be taken care of," he explained, confusion written on his face.

Elizabeth pursed her lips together before saying, "Humans have the adoption option as well, but there's another road that women can take. Abortion is killing the fetus in the womb and having the body being ejected naturally or be sucked out by a medical vacuum thing."

Skartalas couldn't move. The shock of what Elizabeth was telling him was hard. They killed their young before they had a chance at life? Before they were able of taking their first breath of fresh air? How could they do such a thing? How?

His stomach was churning and he felt like his was going to lose his tea. He swayed and Thomas caught him. "Why?" Skartalas finally croaked.

"Single moms, birth defects, kill the mother, the list goes on," Elizabeth explained. "But ladies don't realize there are some backlashes to having an abortion. Psychologically, a woman can have a mental breakdown on what she did. Physically, her body goes into a state of shock. It never really goes back to normal and she maybe infertile after the procedure. Not only that, but she could die on the table."

Skartalas was shocked at what she said. Those were the side effects? And women still did the abortions?

"That's….that's…." he scrambled for a word, wishing that he wasn't hobbled so that he could pace. "Barbaric! How could you kill your own young, before they have a chance? Disgraceful! And having an order allowing this practice is dishonorable! How? How could you come up with this practice?"

"It's been around for centuries," Elizabeth said sadly. "I'm not even sure who started the practice. And there are some people who oppose it."

Thomas nodded in agreement. "Yeah. Though High Command will have a bunch of pro-life people at their doors kicking up a fuss about the article. Everyone knows that cyro is too dangerous for babies, born or unborn, and young children."

Skartalas eyed the pair and said, "Too dangerous?"

"Oh, no no no no no," Elizabeth said, shaking her finger at him like a disobedient hatchling. "We're not even going into the specifics of that! Mostly because we don't know the specifics ourselves."

"Leave the specifics to scientists and leave the explosions to the saboteurs!" Thomas exclaimed, thumping his chest with his fist. He started to fiddle with the Battlegear and Skartalas raised a brow. "Saboteurs?" he asked curiously, his mind slowly diverting from the abortion topic.

Elizabeth hummed in agreement. "We specialize in the disruption of your previously calm day by destroying essential items like trucks and buildings and stealing supplies and intel."

Skartalas couldn't help it, he smirked. "And I'm guessing that's happening with your mission that's coming up?"

"Very good," Thomas smirked.

"And you practice your sneakiness on us when you have nothing else?" Skartalas asked.

"Nah, those pranks were because we were bored," Thomas explained. Skartalas scowled at him and was about to screech at the man some more when Elizabeth interrupted. "So, we haven't learned your name yet, and you probably don't know ours. How about some introductions?"

"Fine. I am Skartalas," the Danian said. Thomas nodded and said, "My name is Thomas Cornwell. This is my wife, Elizabeth."

"Hello, Skartalas," Elizabeth said. After that, everything went into a semblance of normal, if by normal meant being tied up and watching as two humans prepared for a mission to which there were to be explosions of massive proportions, stealing fuel from the enemy, and a major blow to Ore operations. During that time, they questioned each other's culture, though Skartalas avoided the subject of abortions again. It still made his blood boil, but it wasn't something he could change in an instant or something he could change at all.

Imani checked on them a couple of times, and as promised Elizabeth fed him and let him use the latrine. When it was finally time to bunk down for the night, Skartalas stayed awake for a bit longer, mulling over what he learned, while Elizabeth and Thomas took turns watching him. The humans weren't much different from any other Tribe. They had their advantages and disadvantages. They had courage and spunk. And they never gave up.

Skartalas fell asleep with two humans, tied up, and still having no clue what the mission was for tomorrow. At least he knew what they wanted him to do. Stealing fuel shouldn't be too hard, shouldn't it?

* * *

"Hey! Hey, wake up!" Skartalas felt his shoulder be shaken and groaned. He didn't want to wake up! Such a good dream, being with his fellow Danians and enjoying a part of the Hive. He rolled over and tried to go back to sleep. It didn't happen; a rough hand grabbed his shoulder and hauled him to his feet. Blinking, he barely registered moving from the tent to the outside. The rope hobbling his leg was cut, but his hands remained bound. A sack was placed over his head, preventing him from seeing anything.

Skartalas felt himself moving forward, being hemmed in by human bodies. They moved swiftly, making sure that he didn't hinder them. When they finally came to a stop, the sack was removed and he was forced onto his belly.

"Crawl," hissed an unfamiliar voice. Skartalas did as he was told and risked looking around him. They were in a tunnel, and six humans surrounded him. Three of them were Imani, Elizabeth, and Thomas. The other three were males that he didn't know: a bald head, a red head, and a brown haired. Each of them was armed to the teeth with weapons and explosives. He was the only one unarmed, and he didn't like the feeling at all.

Finally, they exited the tunnel into a massive cavern. The ceiling was so high that it could have been mistaken as a sky by those inexperienced with caves. Inside the cavern was a half completed Ore base. The command center was fully built, but it seemed that the quarters and kitchen were incomplete. The supply building was missing a roof and vehicles were scattered around.

Imani was at the head of the group, looking over what was happening something that could be passed for a Scout's Monocular up against her face. Removing it away from her eyes, she turned to her group and whispered, "Okay, it's the graveyard shift now. Only a few MPs are guarding the fuel. Skartalas," she pointed to him, "you'll be getting the fuel. It's already packaged and ready for anyone to use. It's only two crates, but they'll be heavy." Skartalas nodded, showing that he understood and was willing to obey.

"Elizabeth," Imani turned her attention from Skartalas, "you got sniper duty. Anything that comes out of those doors, make sure that it doesn't go back in. Thomas, you're guarding Skartalas while he gets the fuel." The husband and wife duo nodded. Imani turned her attention to the remaining three men. "Matt, Ken, Zachary, you've got the charges. Surround the base with them, and make sure you don't lose your eyebrows again. I'll steal the supplies. There's no need to go after information or prisoners. _That_ base has been picked clean of information and prisoners twice already by the Underworlders." Imani gave everyone a hard look. "Are we clear?" Skartalas nodded along with everyone else. "Then let's get to work!"

Quickly, everyone seemed to slither into place. Elizabeth stayed up near the tunnel and set up her sniper rifle, the M40 that had caught him in the first place. Skartalas and the rest of the humans climbed down to the cavern floor and waited as Elizabeth took out the MPs. Skartalas watched as one Ore human after another fell to the ground, dead. He heard the shots fired, but Elizabeth was too far for the enemy to hear or see her.

When the last MP fell, the rest of the group moved into enemy territory. The three men, Matt, Ken, and Zachary, separated and began to place explosive charges along the edge of the command center. The barracks received the same treatment; Skartalas guessed that there was no one in them or the small group didn't want any survivors. Imani picked the lock on the supply building and was soon raiding.

Thomas remained with Skartalas as he gingerly stepped over the dead Ore MPs. The human had a very impressive rifle that he trained on anything that wasn't in UN combat uniform. Skartalas looked at the vehicle with curiosity. It was a large beast, with four wheels holding it up and a divot on its back. The front end was a two passenger seating. Painted green and brown, it held several containers, two of which Skartalas recognized as the fuel Imani wanted him to steal. The containers were simple wooden crates, but Skartalas could see the individual packaging inside the gaps.

Grabbing the first crate, he was surprised at how light it was. What were the humans so worried about? This was nothing compared to some of the boulders he would carry back in his youth! Perhaps they were worried about the distance.

Shrugging, Skartalas grabbed the other crate just as Imani finished raiding the supplies, a pack bulging at her side. Ken came running over, flashing a quick thumps-up. Zachary and Matt came running soon after. Together the small group headed back to the tunnel and Elizabeth. It was only when Skartalas had finished climbing with the crates and saw Elizabeth with her rifle that he breathed freely. The crates hadn't been too much trouble, just tedious climbing from crack to crack in the cliff wall.

"Okay, time to blow this popsicle stand!" Ken said, rubbing his hands together enthusiastically. Skartalas looked at the red-headed man and was about to ask what he meant when the base was no longer there. Multiple explosions erupted, shaking the cavern and the saboteurs. It took less than a second, and all that was left was crumbling stone. No ball of fire, no smoke, just stone and charred metal. There were a few miniature fires, but they didn't do any damage.

Skartalas gapped at the destruction, shuddering to think about what if the humans had enough of those explosives to take out Mount Pillar. But another thought crossed his mind; they _did_ have enough explosives to take out Mount Pillar. So what was preventing them to do so?

Thomas nudged Skartalas out of his wonderings and said, "Moving out." The black Danian nodded and followed after the group. He didn't recognize any landmarks until they got closer to Danian territory. It was when he saw Mount Pillar that Imani stopped the group and turned to him.

"You're free to go. You _will not_ tell any Creature or human about us. You _will_ give us that fuel in exchange for the supplies we acquired." She snatched the crates and passed the pack to Skartalas. "Tell anyone about our location and your life will be forfeit." With that, the humans left him and his newly acquired pack and snuck off back to their camp.

Skartalas stood there motionless for a good five minutes before an idea came to him. A devious idea that may just turn the tide of control to the Danians. Smirk placed on his face, Skartalas headed toward Mount Pillar. Imani may have said that his life was forfeit if he told anyone about their location, but it would be hard to kill him when _everyone_ knew where the humans _lived_.

* * *

"Capture them?" Queen Illexia exclaimed softly, surprise on her face. "Did they hurt you in some way and now you want revenge?"

Skartalas winced at her words. After reporting back in, he was immediately bombarded with questions: where was he, who caught him, did he know where he was, what did they do to him? He struggled to explain, but it wasn't until Odu-Bathax shoved his way and grabbed him that he was able to explain. As soon as his story was out, Odu-Bathax hauled him to Queen Illexia and Lore immediately. There, he told his story again, leaving out the abortion issue as he didn't want to frighten his queen, and explained his idea.

He shook his head and said, "No, they didn't hurt me at all. Tied me up, yes, but that was expected. Our human neighbors call themselves 'saboteurs,' and they cause massive disruption to the enemy, which is good for all Tribes. I had thought that Mount Pillar would make a better place to live and hide than their current location. Anyone can stumble upon it and capture them and/or kill them. Everyone knows that _Danian_ security is the best. If the humans lived with us, then they won't be caught and we'll have extra protection!" Skartalas motioned to Lore. "The muges can even study them better if the humans reside in Mount Pillar!"

Lore perked at that prospect and looked at Queen Illexia hopefully. The queen looked at Skartalas thoughtfully before nodding. "Bring them to me," she ordered.

_**A/N: Love it? Hate it? Want more? Review!**_


	11. Drakness: Information

_**A/N: Next up is going to be a human. More specifically, Samson, and his view of his people's capture and what happened after. Should be interesting to do. Then it's going to be Aimukk.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own anything, I'm broke. **_

**Drakness: Information  
**

Ore thought they knew all of the Underworld spies and their movements, their secrets. Each spy had been documented with either a drawing or a photograph, their habits noted, and their "favorite" bases to raid for information.

_But they haven't caught little old me!_ Drakness thought to himself, chortling. He drifted from one Fear Valley head to the next with ease. It was true; Drakness was the only Underworld spy that hadn't been documented. H'earring, Skithia, Krekk, every spy in the Underworld except for him had been seen by Ore.

He continued to flint from hill head to hill head. Drakness needed to get to his "customers." They worked for the UN Intelligence, American division. He had met them when they spied on the same Ore base and had bumped into each other. Drakness had been ready to tear out the man's eyes when the woman had appeared and offered information in exchange for their lives. Drakness agreed, fully intending to kill them, but was surprised when the humans' information corresponded with what he needed. He was so shocked that he blurted out what his mission was. They were the ones with the suggestion of working together as to benefit both the Underworld and the UN. He had been suspicious about initiating contact with the humans daily, but soon he discovered that they had the best munchies. French fries was one food that neutral, but an apple pie? He wouldn't share _that_, not even with Chaor. And hash? It may look ugly, a mixture of diced potatoes and beef swimming in a gravy, but with bread and ketchup was an absolute _delight_.

Drakness rubbed his shadowy hands together thinking about his next payment. He hoped it was good, considering the information he had to offer. Besides food, the humans offered him material objects as payment. Last time, Nadi, the latest addition, had made him a set of wind chimes made from strong wooden reeds that she called "bamboo." They sounded so pretty to his ears that he gave up a lot of good information about the status of the latest mugic developed by Ulmar and the Battle of Kor-Bek Island (a complete disaster at first before the silly Overworlders got a kick in the pants by Intress) _and,_ for Nadi's personal pleasure, what Pyrithion was up to. Cothica, he didn't know what that girl saw in the cobra-like Creature, but the look of gratefulness on the child's face was worth it.

Hurrying to his rendezvous point, Drakness wondered who would be there to greet him. Nadi had hinted heavily towards Captain Marietta, but situations do pop up and she may not be the one to greet him. He must prepare for any surprises, from the person receiving the information he carried to the beasts and illusions that haunt Fear Valley. He continued to zip from one head to the next, thinking of the different situations that could happen, before reaching his destination. He peeked around a rock to the little lake ringed into a deep bowl among the rock heads. It had been the rendezvous point for moons, as it was close to the humans' base (wherever that was) and Underworld City.

A figure sat on a rock, a bag sitting on the ground next to him or her. Drakness couldn't make out who it was at this distance, so he drifted around so that he could sneak up from behind. As he floated closer to the person, he recognized his contact by the strawberry blond hair and relaxed posture: Captain Nathaniel Kalinkas, Marietta's husband. He was currently reading a book and his bag was open. Drakness could clearly see his payment in the bag and darted to it.

"Nice try, Drakness," came a voice as the bag was snatched away just as Drakness was fully prepared to meet his payment. He met dirt and rounded pebbles instead. Sputtering out the little rocks and dust, Drakness dusted himself off and huffed, trying to regain his dignity.

"I suppose that you were waiting on me for a while now?" the shadow Creature asked, eyeing the human's book. Many humans liked using electric glass plate things to read, but Nathaniel liked using actual books with paper pages. He claimed that it was easier to find the information he wanted by flipping than typing.

"No, just ten minutes. I know that Marietta was supposed to meet you, but she wasn't feeling well this morning, so I came here instead," Nathaniel explained as he rooted through his bag, searching. Drakness observed his movements with curiosity and memorized his face again. (Just in case the merry little intelligence band got caught or something. Identification and all that.) With pale skin and style of hair, he was very similar to his wife. But Nathaniel's nose was narrow and long, and his eyes were a warm hazel color. Marietta had a little button of a nose with a slight upturned tip and her eyes a snappy green.

With a small noise of discovery, Nathaniel flourished a pen and pad of paper, ready to take notes. When he first saw Nathaniel take notes, Drakness was worried that, if he was captured, that Ore would be able to decipher the notes. But Nathaniel revealed that he wrote his notes in his mother's language, Gaelic, which was no longer used among humans.

"So, what's the news?" Nathaniel asked.

"Ore has set up a base at Glacier Plains and the Overworlders are looking for help to obliterate it," Drakness began. Nathaniel started to write in that illegible scrawl of his. "They may even take UN help if they're desperate enough. The Danians are planning something big. Not sure what yet, but whatever tactics they're using to keep Ore away from Mount Pillar works." He paused for dramatic effect. "And the Mipedians recently captured a group of engineers from the American division and took them to Al Mipedim. Prince Mudeenu was the one who caught them, and he's refused all offers of a trade from the humans."

Nathaniel looked up from his scribbling in shock. "He's turning down offers of a trade? Why? That makes no sense."

Drakness shrugged, unsure what Mudeenu planned to do with the humans. "I'm not sure. He might be keeping them as trophies, examples. But this group of humans apparently had 'seduced,' or something like that, a group of Conjurors and Sobjtek to work with them. They might go on trial as accessories to treason."

"But a trial here takes forever! And wouldn't Sobjtek be a better use to the royal family _not_ behind bars?" Nathaniel countered.

"Well, of course he would! Crown Prince Iflar probably will talk some sense into his cousin about not going through with a trial, but Prince Mudeenu will still turn down all offers of a trade. The engineers may be prisoners until the end of the war."

Drakness had been anxiously floating in a circle so as to gather his thoughts. Human engineers were good public relations between the UN and the Tribes. They rebuilt the structures that had been destroyed, fixed the most temperamental of devices, and generally stayed good-natured to the people they were trying to help. The humans can kiss their public relations representatives good-bye now that Mudeenu had them.

Nathaniel sighed and said, "What's been happening with the Underworld? Anything spectacular?"

"Chaor is hosting a jousting party in a couple of weeks for Prince Mudeenu and try to gain more support against Ore. He's not worried about the UN," Drakness went on. Nathaniel continued to write, though there was a slight hesitance from the pen, waiting for more information. "Chaor wants to hunt down Ore spies and kill them. He knows that human spies have several aliases and a special codename, plus are the slipperiest humans to catch. He wants Mudeenu's people to follow them to their superiors and capture them with an Underworld squad."

"Note to self: keep Holly at home," Nathaniel muttered before asking in a louder voice, "Anything else?"

Drakness shook his head and said, "There haven't been any major battles since Stone Pillar." Nathaniel hummed and rooted around in his bag again before pulling out a black plastic container. Drakness eyed it with the anticipation of a nine year old on Christmas Eve. Nathaniel opened the lid to reveal chocolate chip cookies with a side of very crispy bacon that Drakness could just tell had been cooked near the Lava Pond. Drakness rubbed his hands together before taking the container when offered. He went for the bacon first as Nathaniel packed his items into his pack.

"By the way, Nadi wanted me to ask you about how her cradle-robber is doing," Nathaniel mentioned, a slight tightness in his voice. If he had actual eyeballs, Drakness would have rolled them. Of all the things that the other humans didn't like about Pyrithion's strange thing (couldn't call it a relationship, they weren't dating, she was saved by him, that was all) with Nadi, it wasn't the fact that he was a Creature, scaly, or dishonest at times. No, it was his age; Nadi was about nineteen years old while Pyrithion, when converting his age from solans to years, was twenty-eight years old, give or take.

"I'll tell," Drakness started before a wicked grin stretched his face, "if you tell me what that book was." He never gave information easily, after all!

Nathaniel's face gained a blank face before returning his attention his pack. "I can't."

Drakness placed his container on a flat rock and floated in front of the human's face. "Why not?"

"Can't let Colonel Flagg find out about what's happened," Nathaniel muttered. Drakness frowned at the cryptic words.

"Your CO? What's going on?" Drakness discreetly looked at the spine of the book, but only caught a couple of words: "What" and "Expecting." He continued, "You know I don't deal with that crazy-head."

Nathaniel looked at Drakness long and hard, worry filling every line on his face. Indecision warred in his eyes before he spoke. "Our supplies had been recently reinstated three weeks ago. During the time where we had nothing coming in, we had to ration everything, but some things sort of remained the same. Marietta and I still had our private life, just no protection. It was the end of the month; no pills, no condoms, nothing. We thought we would be fine."

Nathaniel took a deep breath and plowed on. "Marietta had been sick after breakfast for a week now. She took a reliable Underworld pregnancy test a couple days ago…..and it came up positive." Nathaniel quirked a small smile. "We're going to have a baby."

Drakness stared at him in shock. _A baby? A human baby? What about the abortion order? How are they going to keep it safe from everyone? _Drakness thought wildly, then a more horrible thought popped up. _What would happen if Marietta and Nathaniel couldn't take their baby with them? _

"A…a baby?" Drakness stuttered. "Really?" Nathaniel nodded seriously, nervousness in his eyes. "What would happen if you get called back to Earth, when the war's over and the child isn't full grown yet?"

"Marietta and I would go AWOL first, but we get captured, well, he or she will stay here," Nathaniel explained. "In the Underworld. With guardians chosen by us."

Drakness looked at Nathaniel and said gravely, "I will help choose the guardians, but I am not going to be sole caretaker of the child! Chaor will have my head!"

"We're not choosing guardians now! But Marietta realized something very big; if we had the baby in camp, since it's considered American soil, he or she would be considered an American and the chances of survival would be very slim. But if our baby is born in an Underworlder territory, such as the cities or the Lava Pond, she would be considered an Underworlder in human eyes," Nathan explained, excitement sparkling in his eyes.

Drakness eyed the human apprehensively. "An Underworld-American? Really? And what makes you so sure it's a girl?"

Nathaniel shrugged, a large grin spreading on his face. "We don't know _yet._ We'll go up to the Overworld a couple of times to Marietta's nurse friend, to check on the baby."

Drakness continued to eye him for a good long while before asking, "How much time do we have?"

"Human women are normally pregnant for nine months, nine moons," Nathaniel quickly corrected himself, remembering how Creatures count months. "It's been about three weeks now, so in eight moons we should be expecting a new addition to the family." Nathaniel practically beamed happiness over what was coming ahead.

"Still doesn't explain the book," Drakness muttered, returning to what started the whole confession in the first place. Nathaniel gained a light blush as he pulled the book out and allowed Drakness to take it and read the cover, proclaiming it to be _What to Expect When You're Expecting _by a Heidi Murkoff and Sharon Mazel. Drakness shaped his eyes so that he would have the human "raised eyebrow" shape as he flipped the book open and skimmed a few pages. "A help book? Or information?"

"A bit of both, actually," Nathaniel said as he took the book back and packed it up again. "Pyrithion?" he prompted, reminding Drakness of the original deal. Drakness sighed before saying, "He's been rather moody lately. I'm not sure if it's because he hasn't been in battle for a while or if he's missing Nadi or _what_, but it's getting pretty damn annoying!"

Drakness didn't use human curse words often, but when he did, everyone knew that he was serious. Nathaniel shook his head as he stood and hoisted his pack over his shoulder.

"See you after the party?" Nathaniel asked. Drakness nodded, picking his container of cookies and bacon up and putting the lid on. Then they went their separate ways, confident on meeting in three weeks' time.

* * *

Drakness floated between Mipedians and Underworlders as the after-party began. The jousting had been a success. The citizens had enjoyed watching Mipedians and Underworlders try to knock each of off their mounts. Not only that, Prince Mudeenu participated and knocked Cryenox off his Skeletal Steed, which was a hard feat to do. Some of the children were trying to knock each other off with their own mounts, but the more important adults were in Chaor's castle talking.

Drakness noted that Chaor had proposed the idea of eradicating the Ore spies during the jousting. Takinom had been with him, at his right hand side, as proper of the wife of the Underworld leader. A hand steadied him when Mudeenu said that "he'll think about it," which wasn't a definite answer. Drakness had seen the power couple together in social functions enough times to know what that meant: "it doesn't mean 'no,' it means 'maybe.'" And judging how well the Mipedians did, Mudeenu may be more inclined to help, so that there was no flexing bicep in return to her signal showing Chaor's displeasure.

But soon as the after-party started, Takinom made herself scarce. Drakness had shrugged it off and continued to float around, talking to Underworlders and Mipedians alike. He was trying to enjoy himself, as he was allowed the day off, but it was hard to break habits, even for one evening.

"Drakness!" He turned at his name and saw Chaor waving him over to where he stood with Prince Mudeenu. He went over, curiosity nibbling. Chaor motioned to Mudeenu and said, "Prince Mudeenu recently captured a group of UN engineers and one of the females was distended around the stomach area. He was wondering if any of us knew her prognosis and I suggested that you might as you see the most humans. Any ideas?"

One idea immediately popped into Drakness's mind, but he needed more information. "Just how distended is her stomach? Does it look like she swallowed a cactus, a melon, a large ball?"

"A large ball," Prince Mudeenu answered quickly. "I hate to say it, but she looks like she has a condition uncommon among the humans. The interrogations suggest that she's had this condition for over at least seven moons now."

Drakness's mind conjured up an image from _What to Expect When You're Expecting_. If he had the ability to pale, he would have. But he didn't, and that was what was going to save his hide. Depending on when the humans discovered that the woman was with child, Prince Mudeenu may be in for a little surprise when he got back to Al Mipedim.

"I have a feeling that the condition, while not precisely go away, will soon disappear and reappear as something else entirely," he replied cryptically to Prince Mudeenu. Chaor looked baffled at the explaination while the Mipedian narrowed his eyes and was about demand a straight answer when Drakness felt a furry hand grasped his arm.

"There you are, Drakness. Been looking for you all over the place! Excuse us, sires." Eximiar started to drag him away from the pair. "Been meaning to talk to him about that base in the Marsh of Murk."

"That's right. Drakness hasn't seen that one yet. Go on, Eximiar. Prince Mudeenu?" Chaor turned to Mudeenu, who glared at Drakness before nodding.

"I can figure out what Drakness means on my own," the prince allowed, and Eximiar dragged Drakness over to the drink table. Drakness looked over the party again as the four-legged wolf Creature retrieved drinks to see that Underworlders and Mipedians were still being friendly to each other, though it turned from polite friendliness to "how about those stupid humans" friendliness.

"Here." A steaming cup of tea was thrust into his face, startling Drakness from his observations. "You haven't touched the ales all night. They still not agreeing with you?"

Drakness sighed and shook his head as he sipped his tea. Alcohol never agreed with him, even before he was a spy. He followed Eximiar out of the crowded main party room to one of the adjacent hallways. He waited for Eximiar to go into the Marsh of Murk base, but he didn't. The Commander stopped in front of a door and asked, "What do you think of the humans?"

Drakness opened his mouth to lie that humans were scum and needed to die. What came out instead was, "Well, the humans I work with are a good sort. The UN in general is alright, except for the few crazies."

Drakness clasped his hands over his mouth in horror. Where had that come from?

Eximiar grinned, showing off his sharp white teeth. Too quick for Drakness to dodge, Eximiar grasped the back of his head and shoved the spy through the now open door. Drakness flew in to see a small simple room. Nivenna, Borth-Majar, and Takinom stood there, eyes narrow and faces stony. Drakness turned to flee through the door, but Eximiar blocked the way and the door was closed.

"This room is warded, Drakness," Nivenna said. "You can't escape. We just have some questions for you."

Drakness stared at them and asked, "How?"

"A truth-root tea," Borth explained, nodding to the cup that Drakness still clenched. "Apparently, it's very potent in this form. Barely a sip and you gave up a very large secret."

"Borth thought it," Majar added. Drakness glared at the little green Creature sitting on his rocky partner and dropped his cup, letting the rest of the tea spill onto the floor. He was furious at himself for not foreseeing this problem when he entered his deal with the Intelligence humans.

"When did you first meet the humans?" Takinom asked, iron control in her voice. _She's known this for a while,_ Drakness realized. _Oh, dear._

"About a solan ago, at the Ore base near the Passage. We had bumped into each other. It was just two at first. Male and female from the UN. I was going to kill them when the female offered information in exchange for their lives." Drakness took a deep breath and continued, "Their information was exactly what I needed. In my shock, I told them my mission and the information I had gathered. The male suggested a deal and I agreed to it."

"You said 'just two at first.'" Nivenna pointed out. "How many have you dealt with and how many more do you think are in their unit?"

Drakness didn't want to tell them the names of his humans. Wait, when did they become his humans? Didn't matter, Takinom mustn't know their names! He did a mental count in his head.

"Five humans," he finally said. "With a possible fifteen over-all total."

"Names of the ones you deal with," Takinom ordered. Borth held a quill ready to scratch the names into Majar's brain. Drakness clasped his hands to his mouth again. Eximiar came up behind him and shoved his hands away. "Speak!" he snarled.

"Nadi Farrow," Drakness began, sorrow tinting his voice. "UN Captain Marietta Kalinkas. UN Captain Nathaniel Kalinkas. The Ghost. UN Major Akbar Ibn Hussan."

"Spell them," Borth said. Drakness complied, floating to the floor in defeat as he rattled off the letters his clients' names spell.

"Where do they live?" Eximiar joined in.

"Just somewhere in Fear Valley. I have never seen their camp. We meet near a lake instead," Drakness explained.

"What they pay you?" Majar asked as Borth continued to write down the names.

"It depends. If I am paying them for their information, I give either trinkets or Underworld money. If they are paying me for information, they give me their own trinkets or feed me."

"You get _trinkets_ and _food_ for information?" Nivenna hissed, her green eyes snapping. Takinom stopped her apprentice from advancing with a single hand.

"What sort of information?" she asked, curiosity coloring her words. Drakness looked right in his queen's eyes and said, "The kind that prevents more deaths from coming to the UN soldiers."

"Any sort then," Takinom clarified. Drakness nodded. Growls from Eximiar and Majar echoed in the room.

"What's the latest from the humans then?" Borth asked, looking up from his writing. Drakness felt horror lace through his body and was sure it showed on his face. Bowing his head, the tea preventing him from lying, Drakness muttered, "Marietta is with child. She's a moon into her pregnancy."

He could only see the stone floor, but he could imagine the shock. The growling had stopped, after all. "How much time does she have until she's ready for her birth?" Takinom asked, her voice tight once more. "Or is she doing the abortion?"

"She's having the child," Drakness told Takinom. "Eight moons from now she'll be ready, but she'll need a location that's not controlled by humans."

"An Underworld-controlled location?" Takinom was surprised. Nivenna followed with, "Why?"

"If the babe was born in the camp or any human controlled location, it would be considered a citizen of that faction," Drakness explained. "But if Marietta gives birth in an area controlled by us, it would be an Underworlder in the humans' eyes. When the war's over, Marietta and Nathaniel would go AWOL and live here. But they would also assign guardians to take care of the child if something went wrong on their end."

Takinom smirked. "We would have something to rub in the humans' faces when this is all over." Drakness hung his head in shame. He had revealed one of the biggest secrets of his life and now he would probably die because of it. A hand tucked itself under his chin and lifted it so that he was looking once more into Takinom's eyes.

"You will bring the couple into the palace," she ordered quietly. "You will have a couple of volunteers, but no more. The woman will give birth in the palace, in this city, to make the child _ours_, a child of the Underworld!"

"What about Chaor?" Drakness whispered. If the big Creature saw humans sneaking around his palace, he would kill them, and then hunt down whoever let them in!

"Leave him to me," Takinom said before rising to her full height. "You won't be punished for this, Drakness. You have been giving information, yes, but you have been receiving information as well. Keep the deal between you and the humans going."

Drakness nodded before saying, "Yes, ma'am."

Takinom swept her gaze to the other Underworlders. "This interrogation does not leave this room. If I hear so much as a speck of such information, I will hunt you down and tear out your tongue. Am I clear?"

A chorus of "Yes, ma'am"s and "Yes, Takinom" reached Drakness's ears. Takinom looked at Drakness again. Fear crept up his shadowy spine when he saw the cold hardness in her eyes.

"We have eight moons, Drakness. _Make sure she doesn't lose that child_," the queen of the Underworld ordered.

Drakness nodded, relief sweeping through his body like a tide. "You can count on that."

_**A/N: Love it? Hate it? Reviews are the best!**_


	12. The Capture

_**A/N: Samson's chapter. And Peyton finally shows up! Aimukk is next. Edit: I forgot to mention, the concept of Mipedian bathhouse goes to Quazer's Fourteen Times in Perim. Check it out!  
**_

_**Disclaimer: I don't own anything Chaotic. **_

**The Capture  
**

Chains. Heavy chains, thick chains, chains with collars on them. Constricting the movement so that a person couldn't move a muscle without the possibility of being chaffed or pinched between links. Chains could also bind heavy load together and be lifted to a location. Chains were considered an engineer's best friend. But for moment….

_I_ hate _chains!_ Samson thought viciously to himself. He and the rest of the engineers were captured and their wrists bound by thick manacles connected to a collar. The Conjurors had received the same treatment with the addition of a gag for each one. And Sobtjek received a black eye, bloody nose, and a couple of broken ribs in his attempt to free his people. Vinta had been the one to do that little number.

It had happened while they had been asleep. The engineers had finished their latest project, a barn for a farmer with a large amount of livestock, and gone to bed happy. Samson and Megan were more than happy to go to sleep as the seven month baby bump was determined to practice kung-fu or kick boxing since the fifth month. All Samson remembered before sleep took over was the peaceful look on his wife's face. When he woke up and coherent, however, he was shackled and on his feet moving out of his tent by a Mipedian soldier. He saw that the Conjurors were on their knees, submissive, in front of a large bulky yellow Mipedian in black armor, horns adorning his head. It took Samson all but a second to realize that Prince Mudeenu had finally "attacked" and they were now his prisoners.

Sobtjek had attacked when the soldiers had them on the ground, but Vinta intercepted before the muge reached Mudeenu. The fight was short, as Sobtjek had been taken by surprise and Vinta was a better fighter. The red Mipedian only had a few scratches to show from his fight while Sobtjek was far worse off.

Now their tents were being raided, equipment being tossed carelessly into the sand in a pile, personal items stuffed into bags nilly-willy, and plans for new projects crammed into the file cabinets. Samson winced with the other engineers at how their poor possessions were treated.

"Mount the women and sick on some of the spare dagons. Vinta, you will take the men back. Dakkamal!" Prince Mudeenu ordered. The heavily armored trainer bowed when he reached Mudeenu. "Yes, Your Highness?"

"Make sure that no one recognizes that this place was once a camp. Take everything: the tents, water, pipes, food, everything," Mudeenu snarled. Dakkamal nodded with a "yes, Your Highness" before relaying the orders to his men.

Samson watched as some Mipedian soldiers gathered up Sobtjek and the small handful of women and helped them mount the strange lizard mounts. Most of the women had worn their uniforms and able to mount up easily, but Megan was in a dress to try to conceal her baby bump. She was forced to ride sidesaddle with Sobtjek to hold her in place. Vinta forced Samson and the rest of the camp to their feet, a single rope linking them together at the collar and another rope connected so that he would have control over the line.

Prince Mudeenu turned his dagon around, facing out of their little oasis, and with flourish of his sword shouted, "Forward!" Immediately, half of the company and their prisoners moved, heading for the rising sun. Samson couldn't help but feel despair over their home throughout the war being destroyed. He marched on, head held high to keep an eye on Megan.

They walked at a fast pace during the twilight and as dawn broke. By mid-morning, most of the humans were sweating and ready for a drink. Samson knew that Prince Mudeenu wouldn't stop for them; the Mipedians weren't even sweating. He continued to watch Meg, making sure that she wasn't going to faint. He was surprised to see Prince Mudeenu raise a fist in the air while pulling on his mount's reins to halt.

"Give water to the prisoners," he ordered a bulky green Mipedian. He smirked. "Can't have them dying before any information is learned."

"Break!" the green Mipedian shouted before going to a dagon as the other Mipedians grabbed their waterskins to drink from. He pulled a full skin from a saddlebag before going to the women. He grabbed Emily, the youngest with multicolored dyed hair, and dragged her down to put the opening to the liquid container to her lips. Emily took two gulps before removing her lips from the skin's opening. The green Mipedian then repeated down the line until he reached Megan and Sobtjek. Megan swallowed as much water as she could before the green Mipedian moved to Sobtjek. He looked at the muge before shaking his head and asking, "Why, Sobtjek, why?"

"You wouldn't understand, Ario," the orange Mipedian replied before accepting the skin. The green Mipedian returned the now empty skin to the saddlebag and retrieved another full skin. He then went over to Samson, the men, and the Conjurors and gave them water. Samson muttered "thank you" before letting the water pass his lips. Ario gave him a raised brow in return for his manners.

"Move out!" Mudeenu ordered and once more the company went farther into the desert. When the sun reached its highest point, Samson saw the first trees sticking out of the sand. At first, he thought it was just a mirage caused by the heat and sun. But looking over his shoulder to see Fivarth's reaction, he was shocked to see the resigned look on the Conjuror's face. Samson looked at the trees again, realizing that they had been only been a day's journey from the capital of the Mipedians.

They soon reached the gates to the city, and a guard at the top cried, "State your business!"

"I am Prince Mudeenu, and I have a unit of humans and traitors that need to be put in prison!" Prince Mudeenu yelled back. A minute after his announcement, the gates creaked open wide enough that the entire group could file in single file. Vinta yanked on the rope quickly, reminding the prisoners of the ones who had the power. Samson winced and walked through the gates with his people, eying the streets warily.

Citizens lined the street to a palace, waving and whistling to their prince. Some of the Mipedian children jeered and threw rocks at the prisoners before their mothers stopped them, scolding. Samson winced as a rock grazed his ear. He heard Fivarth behind him grunt as another rock made a more solid contact to his body. None of the rocks hit the women fortunately. Samson hated to think about the possibility of a mini stampede, with Meg riding one of the dagon and falling off and hurting herself and the baby.

Prince Mudeenu took it all in stride, waving and smiling at the crowd. Some the Mipedian women ran up to the soldiers and hugged them, receiving hugs in return. Slowly, the company progressed down the street, more Mipedians showing up and cheering for their prince. Samson just kept an eye on Meg, who remained stoic during the entire process. Her head was held high, and it looked like she was attempting to burn two holes into Mudeenu's back.

They reached the palace, and Mudeenu stopped in front before issuing orders again. "Vinta, Ario. Take the prisoners to the bathhouses. Make sure that they're presentable for Crown Prince Iflar." The two Mipedians nodded. Ario grabbed the lead dagon's reins and led the train of people to a side street next to the palace. Samson eyed Mudeenu as he passed, trying to figure out what the lizard prince was going to tell the people. He didn't get a chance to hear what the prince said, but he could hear the people's cheer as he entered the side street.

The train continued down the side street until it branched out to an open area with stone longhouses on one side and two box-shaped buildings on the other side. The two box shaped buildings had more Mipedians milling around the entrances, and Ario led the train to the crowd. Vinta gave another yank and followed the older Mipedian.

Samson searched the crowd, trying to determine how many were there. But with everyone moving around, he couldn't keep count. Fear rose in his chest as they got closer to the crowd; he didn't know if Mipedians had lynchings, but there looked to be enough Mipedians that they could do the job. Old black and white photos unearthed themselves in his brain and danced the disturbing images behind his eyes.

The train was so close to the crowd that Samson could see the individual colors of each Mipedian eye. It was then that the wind shifted so that the camp's over-all scent washed over the crowd. Samson winced as several males tossed their heads and a couple of females sneeze at the offending odor. He knew that the whole lot smelled bad; their showers had ran out of water almost two weeks ago and their request for more had been denied. But still, the Mipedians didn't have to insult them even more with their body language.

Finally, the camp halted in front of the crowd. Now Samson could see that it was just seven males and four females waiting for them. Immediately, two of the females took over the dagons and began to fuss over the state of the six women.

"Look at you!"

"You poor things!"

"Whatever happened out there?"

"Does it matter to them now? They must be prepared to meet the Crown Prince!"

"Quit your fussing," came the sharp order. One of the other females, a lithe green one with thick cornrows and blue armor, stepped forward with a snarl. "They are Prince Mudeenu's prisoners, not lost hatchlings in need of pampering! All they need is to be cleaned!"

The second female, a brilliant orange color with blood-red frills on her head, stepped forward and clasped a hand on the other's shoulder. "And they need new clothes. Can't have them presented in those rags, now can we?"

Samson tried to look down at his uniform, but the collar was in the way. He did know that the clothes had a few tears….and a hole in the knee, the cuffs frayed, a pocket hanging on by a literal thread. Still, nothing wrong with his clothes, or anyone else's! They were in about the same condition as his! Samson felt insulted.

The orange female told Vinta, "Take them into the bathhouse before unchaining them. Mizkio, the servants, and I will send Sobtjek in shortly after we helped the ladies dismount."

Vinta nodded with a "Yes, Lieutenant Jorre."

"Lieutenant, huh?" Samson's eye widened at Emily, her feet firmly on the ground, grinned, allowing the bright sun to shine off her Monroe piercing and the assorted piercings in her ears. Her short hair ruffled in the wind, showing off the red, purple, and neon green hair dye. She was only eighteen, but had a knack for interior designing and drawing, the only reasons she was with them (besides the fact that she was the only one who could cook with Megan). Emily continued, "Prince Mudeenu is allowing a mighty lieutenant to babysit a bunch of lowly humans?"

"You're forgetting a group of Conjurors and a powerful muge," Jorre replied without skipping a beat. "Besides, I volunteered."

"Emily, do not reply to that!" Megan hissed, still perched precariously on her dagon. The first servant helped her down. The other servant and Mizkio began to help the other four women still stuck on dagons, scared of dropping down from a height greater than a truck. Samson privately agreed with Megan. A lieutenant of a tribe could easily kill Emily and have no qualms about it.

Jorre returned her attention to Vinta. "Why aren't they in the bathhouse yet? We have limited time! You," she pointed to one of the males, "gather their clothes so that the seamstresses and clothmasters can have general measurements. Crown Prince Iflar mustn't be influenced by rags."

"Yes, Lieutenant," the male said. Vinta yanked on the rope, and the line of men followed Ario into the bathhouse on the left. Samson watched helplessly as the women were herded into the other bathhouse. Then all he saw was yellow stone and felt sticky humidity.

Ario closed the door as soon as Sobtjek walked in limping and Vinta walked out, duty done. Then he made short work of the chains, unlocking the shackles and collars and taking off the Conjuror's muzzles. As soon as Samson's hands and neck were free, he rubbed them, easing the soreness of being in one position for a long time. He did a mental check of all his people, making sure that they hadn't lost one. Ten human males, himself included? Check. Four Conjurors and a muge? Check. They all made it.

"Strip!" Ario snarled, and proceeded to do so himself.

"Huh?" Henry Ko, the South Korean transfer, said before finding himself one jacket less, courtesy of one of the male servants. He wasn't alone, the other humans were being forcibly stripped as well. The Conjurors and Sobtjek, however, were left alone as they complied with Ario's order.

It wasn't until most of the men were down to their underwear that a knock came on the door. Ario snarled, a deep primitive sound, and yanked the door open, with all his glory hanging, to reveal Emily in just a towel.

"What?" he yelled. Emily just ignored him and his "pet" and peeked around to address her fellow prisoners.

"Is Grandma with you guys?" she asked, concern laced in her voice. They shook their heads, and Samson felt a touch of horror go up his spine. Emily's grandmother had wanted to stay with her, even traveling in cyro to another world. Unfortunately, Grandma was so old and slightly senile that she had only her Social Security number to go off of, and even then the Army boys couldn't her name. They hadn't wanted her to go. Grandma convinced the Army that she wanted to die with her granddaughter next to her, and if she died in space, then it was God's will. Strangely enough, she survived the trip and called it a "miracle." Emily had said the same thing at first, but then changed her words to "God's punishment for not finishing high school." The powder white-haired old woman did excellent paperwork, pulling her weight for the camp. But because she was slightly senile, she thought of herself as a lovely woman of the age of thirty-five and tried to flirt with men much younger than her.

_She could be trying to convince some poor Mipedian soldier to bed with her_, Samson thought as the horror in his spine raced from his back to his head. A commotion outside had Emily turning around and the male prisoners crowded around Arios, who looked shocked at the feel of heads and hands around his ribs and shoulders. Samson secured a spot by Ario's last rib and felt his heart stop. Vinta was up against a palm tree, and Grandma was advancing. Her lips were moving, and while Samson couldn't hear what she was saying, he knew from past experience. Grandma flirted with all the young men, and judging by Vinta's uncomfortable look, she was laying it on thick.

It was instinctual by now. Samson felt his lungs swell with air and, as one, the camp screamed, _"GRANDMA!"_ The wrinkly old woman jumped and faced them, and Vinta made his escape, climbing up the tree and making it over to the longhouses. Samson had felt Ario jump at their scream and knew that he was watching Emily rush over to her grandma and persuade her back to the girls' bathhouse. Jorre stood at the doorway and closed the door after the two women, one young and the other old, entered the house.

Ario snapped back into reality and snarled, "Get back inside!" He pushed the prisoners inside and slammed the door. The servants finished stripping the humans, much to their embarrassment. Samson felt himself blush as his army-issued underwear was destroyed. Despite showering in the homemade shower stalls and seeing more ass and cock than he never wanted to see, he was still self-conscience about his body and how much bulk he had.

The servants led the humans into a much bigger room and where the humidity originated. It was a sauna, with heated rocks in the center, brushes and bowls of clear liquid strategically placed near the seats, and reed paddles next the bowls. Samson and the other humans stopped short upon entering the room, but Sobtjek and the Conjurors brushed past them like there was nothing wrong. They sat on the benches, bodies completely relaxed but their eyes remained wary. The servants had to shove the humans down on the benches. A servant took one of the bowls and, taking the brush, put a drop of liquid on the hot rocks. Immediately, the rocks sizzled and a light perfume, smelling like the desert lilies, wafted in the air.

Samson had to take deep breathes in the heavy humid air. His skin felt clammy, and from the look of the other humans they were in the same boat. The Mipedians acted like they were used to the humidity.

"How are you doing, Sobtjek?" Henry asked, his black eyes worried. Sobtjek gave a small smile and said, "I healed my ribs during the ride here. I haven't managed to get to my eye yet." After a good five minutes, the servants picked up the brushes and bowls and came over to the humans. The Conjurors and Sobtjek grabbed a couple of bowls and brushes themselves and Samson watched, fascinated, as they spread the liquid with the brush.

"Gah!" Samson jumped as he felt a cold wet brush on his back. He tried to move away, but the servant just grabbed his arm and continued. He tried to bolt from his seat, but the grip on his arm was too strong. Samson shivered as the slightly thick liquid ran down his back. Henry and the other men were receiving the same treatment as he was. Most were shivering and staying still in terror, but some like Henry were struggling to be free. Ario snorted as he essentially painted himself with the liquid.

"It's just oil. Quit your struggling!" he snarled. Habehk the Conjuror shook his head and said, "Ario, they've never been in one of our bathhouses before. They don't know what to do."

"Then they better learn fast!" Ario snapped before continuing his painting. Habehk sighed and continued to paint the oil on as well.

Meanwhile, Samson was uncomfortably aware that the brush was getting closer to his privates. The servant had lathered the oil in his hair, allowing it to drip down into his face. His neck, chest, arms, and stomach had less oil than his head, but he continued to struggle as that brush crept closer to the one spot he did not want touched by anyone but Megan. The brush came closer.

"No!" he said, pushing the brush away. The servant ignored him and tried again. Samson pushed it away again and jumped up, pulling his arm away. The servant blinked in surprise. Samson was about to ream the servant out when the servant nodded and worked on his legs. Samson turned to look at Sobtjek, who nodded slightly. Samson mouthed in English "thank you" before the brush tickling his toes regained his attention.

When the brushes stopped, Samson and the other humans couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. The Mipedians, however, weren't done and were taking turns doing each other's backs. Everyone finished painting oil on themselves and sat steaming in the sauna for a few minutes.

Samson watched as Appelai reached for the reed paddle closest to him. He was vaguely reminded of a horse's sweat scrapper, used to run water off of a horse after a hard ride or a bath. Apparently, the reed had the same function, as the oil coating Appelai's scales ran off and back into one of the bowls. Samson jumped again when he felt the reed at his head. This time, he forced himself to hold still. Tremors ran through his body each time the reed inched closer his body after a swipe. The cold rim of the bowl as it moved around his body wasn't helping at all. It seemed the servant wanted to see which part of his body would shiver the most.

Samson couldn't even see what was happening with the others. His eyes were shut tight, and all of his concentration went to the reed and bowl. Only when the last of the oil was scraped off his feet and into the bowl did Samson open his eyes and relax. Almost everyone was done; Sobtjek was getting the last of the oil off of Ario's back. Ario looked unsure on whether or not to look suspicious or pleased by this.

The servants led the way out of the sauna, and Samson was surprised to see a stack of white garments. He knew that their uniforms were taken for measurements, but he hadn't realized how fast the seamstresses and clothmasters were. They must have been in the sauna for a long time.

"Dress," Ario ordered simply for grabbing his own armor and cloth and leading by example. The white pile of cloth was distributed among the humans by the servants. Samson was proud that his people remembered their manners and said "thank you" in Perimian. Samson clenched the belt holding the cloth tight and buckled, keeping it in place. Once everyone was dressed, the servants bowed and became invisible. Samson had seen enough Mipedians use their Cothica-given gifts that he no longer flinched. Ario sighed, fully dressed and ready.

"Come on," he snarled. "Mustn't keep Their Highnesses waiting any longer."

* * *

"Hey. Hey, Sobtjek. Wake up."

"Mmmm, wha? What is it, Emily?"

"Okay, I have good news and bad news. I suggest that you take the good news first."

Samson awoke to Emily and Sobtjek talking. He cracked an eye and looked out the prison window. It was barely dawn. Samson sighed and ran a hand down his face, making sure not to disturb Megan as she continued to sleep with her head on his shoulder. They had accidentally fallen asleep leaning against the prison wall instead of their usual spot in the prison cell. _Whoever said teenagers had no energy in the morning needs to be shot,_ he thought venomously.

The camp had been in prison for almost a moon now. The Mipedians had sorted them into two cells, for a single room wouldn't hold all twenty-one of them. Bayley, Emily, Grandma, Henry, Sobtjek, Fivarth, and two others, recent British transfers Corporal Scott White and Corporal Danny White (brothers), were with Megan and Samson. Ranun, Appelai, and Habehk were in the other cell across the hall, keeping the other half of the camp in line. Guards were posted on either side of the doors.

Every morning, Emily and Grandma were the first ones up. And one of the two would cause trouble. It was either Grandma flirting with the male guards or Emily trying to annoy the guards enough that they would threaten to zap her with their Cyclances. It was usually one of the Mipedians to save Emily from a nervous system overload, and Emily saving the guards from Grandma and embarrassment.

Samson listened as Sobtjek sighed from his position under the bench he and Megan were sitting on.

"All right. What's the good news?" he took the bait. Samson watched as Emily shifted from foot to foot, looking apprehensive.

"Well, the good news is that the guy is taking Grandma's flirting well," she began. Samson rolled his eyes at the prospect at more "visitors." Mipedian citizens had seemed to treat them a little like a showroom attraction and would stare at them until Emily would snarl in English, "I'm the only one with tats here, so get lost!" It always sent the citizens scurrying.

Emily continued, "The bad news is, I think he's your boss."

_Thump!_ Samson felt the bench shake and Megan woke up, startled. Sobtjek peered out from under the bench. The muge growled, "_What?_"

"He says that you know him and that his name's Enre-hep," Emily explained before tripping over Bayley and landing on Fivarth as Sobtjek bolted for the door with an indignant squawk of "Grandma! Away from the door!"

"Good morning, Sobtjek! We were just having a lovely conversation about you," Grandma exclaimed.

"Morning, Grandma. Give me a moment with your new 'boyfriend,' will you?" Sobtjek said before dragging her away from the Mipedian standing at the archway of the now open door. Samson couldn't help but stare at the strange red Mipedian. He wasn't alone, though, all the humans (except Grandma) were staring at him.

This Enre-hep, as Emily said he was called, was clothed completely in white. Not very different from other Mipedians, or the prisoners for that matter, but he seemed to constructed it to be like a long enclosed poncho with different scraps of white cloth. Gold trim seemed to be his attempt to look more regal and less homeless. His cornrows seemed to be made up of scales rather than actual hair and bits of metal decorated the rows. Green bracelets hung heavily on his wrists and ankles. In his hand was a rolled up paper, looking suspiciously like a blueprint. His yellow eyes were currently twinkling like Albus Dumbledore and a small smile on his face. Samson couldn't help but think of him as an old man with life.

"Enre-hep, what are you doing here?" Sobtjek asked, confusion heavy in his voice.

"I'm here to give you your engineers' commission. By order of Crown Prince Iflar," Enre-hep said as he handed the rolled up paper to Sobtjek. Sobtjek took the paper and unrolled it as Enre-hep faced the humans and continued, "He wants you to rebuild a watch tower on the eastern side of Al Mipedim. He chose a plan from your storage devices and has the materials ready for you. He wants you to begin right away."

Emily snorted from her position on the floor, nestled between Fivarth and Bayley and sitting cross-legged and leaning on her hands. "And what did Mudeenu the Ass say to his cousin?" she asked, distrust dancing on her face. She still wasn't over their capture.

"He's down in the Underworld, at a jousting party hosted by Chaor," Enre-hep replied smoothly, unfazed by the self-proclaimed punk's language. Sobtjek rolled up the plan and handed it back to Enre-hep.

"This is just a sketch of a tower done by Emily. The real blueprint is probably stuffed in a file cabinet by Dakkamal or one of his soldiers. And there's a little matter over food, material, and shelter. We won't come back here," he said firmly before gesturing to Megan. "Megan must also be overseer of the project. If she goes into labor, all work stops and she'll be taken to one of the palace's birthing chambers."

Samson was surprised at Sobtjek's boldness at announcing Megan's pregnancy. He looked at his wife's reaction and his surprise grew at the relief on Megan's face. Apparently, she was tired of hiding her "condition." Thank goodness there weren't any guards. They would have

Enre-hep looked between Sobtjek and Megan in astonishment, mouth slightly open. He stuttered, "You mean…..she is…..how?" He sighed and said, "I'll let His Highness know."

"I'm going to be bad and request that you don't tell the prince. I want to see his shocked face," Megan laughed. "Granted, the baby is due any day now, so….." she trailed off. Enre-hep just nodded and turned to leave.

"Deary, you don't know which sketch goes to which blueprint! Here, I'll come with you to help," Grandma said, chuckling. Enre-hep looked at the old woman for a few seconds before smiling and offering his arm. "Madame."

Grandma smiled charmingly before taking his arm and they continued their conversation before Sobtjek interrupted out the door. Emily grinned at Sobtjek and teased, "Didn't know you were quite the negotiator!"

Sobtjek glared at her. "You are just trying to get me buttered up so that you don't have to eat your cactus flesh at breakfast. Tough, little missy." Sobtjek walked over to the other cell and unlocked the other door. Emily sighed before getting up. "Well, it was a long shot."

* * *

It finally happened on the fifth day of construction. Samson had been hooking a crate of stones to a makeshift crane when Megan gasped. He turned to see a wet spot on the ground and a look of horror on her face.

Immediately, the entire camp swarmed around her and herded her to the palace. She had to stop several times in pain from the contractions. In the end, they had to carry her into the palace and to the birthing chambers. Megan huffed and panted in pain when Iflar, Enre-hep, and Mudeenu appeared at the chamber door.

Samson felt fear grip his heart. Mudeenu would kill his child, mutilate the tiny little body to ribbons. Meg gripped his hand and _squeezed_. She had thought the same thing. Mudeenu eyed the pair and something akin to realization lit up his eyes. He simply said, "Ah-ha."

Enre-hep immediately took charge. "Out! Everyone, out! 'Everyone' includes you, Your Highnesses. Sobtjek, Samson, you're the only ones allowed to stay," he ordered. The old muge shooed the rest of the camp and the pair of royals out before closing the chamber doors. He washed his hands and returned to where Megan lay.

Gently, he pulled up Megan's dress. Samson and Sobtjek remained at Megan's sides as Enre-hep checked to see how far along the baby was. Megan grimaced at the feeling of unfamiliar fingers probing inside her. At last, Enre-hep nodded and removed his fingers before saying, "She just needs a couple more hours before she needs to really push."

Megan groaned in pain in response. For four hours, Samson heard the camp pace outside the doors. Shuffling cards sporadically reached his ears, signaling Habehk finally broke out his deck of cards. He was willing to bet that there was a pool going on what the gender and weight the baby would be.

Finally, Enre-hep brightened as he checked Megan one last time. "He's ready! Get ready to push!"

Megan had been in so much pain during those four hours. She almost broke his hand every time a contraction hit. Now, she snarled and, when the next contraction hit, _pushed_, screaming in pain.

"Yes! That's it! The baby's head is out!" Enre-hep exclaimed. "Once more, come on!" Megan huffed and prepared to push once more. When the contraction hit, she pushed and the rest of the baby came out. The baby took its first breath of desert air and shrieked. Enre-hep cried, "It's a boy!"

Samson and Megan brightened as Enre-hep showed them their baby. The old muge cut the umbilical cord, cleaned him of the blood, weighed the baby, and swaddled him in a baby blanket. Sobtjek stepped aside and Enre-hep placed the baby boy in Megan's arms. Samson watched as his beautiful wife delicately held her boy in her arms. Pride swelled his chest and he knelt next to his wife and child.

"He's perfect," Samson whispered. The couple didn't even notice the two muges leave.

Megan smiled down at her child. "He is." She looked at Samson. "He still needs a name."

Samson shrugged and suggested, "How about Christopher, after your father?"

"I like Peyton. How about Christopher for his first name, and Peyton for his middle name?" Megan compromised.

"I like Peyton as well. Not many are called Peyton anymore." Samson smiled. "Christopher Peyton Rosen."

_**A/N: Love it? Hate it? Reviews are the best feedback.**_


	13. Aimukk: Matt

_**A/N: It's going to be another human chapter, folks, followed by Zalvar. Any one who has a problem with men-on-men better wait until the next chapter, cuz the beginnings of a pairing will happen here. Be warned.**_

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Chaotic, unfortunately.**_

**Aimukk: Matt**

It had been a good night in the Hive. The humans were finally in Mount Pillar as prisoners rather than pranksters, all their equipment confiscated and given to the gear-keepers, and were now facing Queen Illexia in nothing but their silly sleepwear. The Danians now had their own set of humans.

The squad had ambushed them while they slept. Aimukk remembered seizing a black female human and gagging her before tying her up. He remembered taking their radio and maps. He remembered the march into Mount Pillar. He remembered herding the humans to the queen's center chambers. And all he felt was pride for his work.

Aimukk smirked as he looked at the kneeling humans. Well, five of the humans were kneeling. The brown-skinned and strange-haired one was tied up on a pole and hanging a few inches off the floor, glaring daggers at the queen. The bright red Danian kept a close eye on him. He had caused trouble for Ibiaan when he was seized. An escaped human, even worse a saboteur, in the queen's chambers was out of the question.

Queen Illexia towered over the humans, her wise face cold and hard. Everyone knew how long the humans had been living on their grounds. They had let the humans think that they wouldn't be captured and punished. Now it was time to reap the reward of patience and cunning.

"You humans have been living in our territory for over a solan. It's time for you to be punished," Queen Illexia started. She was about to continue with her speech when the tied up human piped up.

"Punished? You mean capturing a man and tying him to a pole in nothing but his boxer shorts isn't enough? You mean capturing an entire saboteur camp in their sleepwear isn't enough for you? This is an outrage, woman! A violation of our rights! Cruel and unusual punishment, dammit!"

He would have continued if not for Aimukk finally having enough and clapping a hand over the human's mouth. The human continued to talk, but it was at least muffled and Queen Illexia wouldn't hear his insults. The other humans acted like the actions of the man were normal. Aimukk looked closer at the humans. Before, Skartalas had described the humans as proud and confident creatures. Now, they were broken, submissive, tired. The brown one was just putting up an act. Aimukk didn't understand the change.

"As I was saying, it's time for you to be punished. You will now live with us, as Danians," Queen Illexia continued. Aimukk, hand still clapped over the human's mouth, watched as the humans immediately stiffened and looked at the queen with fear. _So, they had heard about the other human that had been captured, _Aimukk thought to himself. That one had died from a Parasite.

"You will not be assimilated, however. You will _not_ work for the humans; anything you do will be done in the name of the Danians, even if you have to wear Mandiblor Crowns to do it."

Aimukk watched as shudders ran from one end of the human line to the next. A couple of the humans pulled their lips back in a snarl. Others kept their mouths closed, but false bravo was trying to worm its way past fear, but fear was still winning. Apparently, the idea of being without free will bothered the humans. The one under his hand was slightly trembling with fear.

"Follow my rules for you and you won't have to wear the Crowns. You are prisoners until you renounce your Earth customs and join us. For now, you will live in the prison near the North Gate until suitable nestmates are willing to allow you to stay. Odu-Bathax," she called the great Battlemaster forward, "escort these prisoners to their cells."

The blue Danian bowed and said, "Yes, my queen." Turning to the lower-ranking Mandiblors who had been a part of the ambush team, he barked, "Take them to their cells! March!"

"Aimukk, a moment, please," Queen Illexia asked. Aimukk looked at his queen in surprise. He had just removed his hand from the brown human's mouth before he was taken away. He was about to heave the one he had captured when the queen spoke to him. He straightened and nodded to another Mandiblor, who took her away with the others. The brown human began to shout curses in Human as his pole was carried away. Aimukk ignored what he was saying; his queen needed to speak with him.

The last human and unnecessary Danian gone, Aimukk covertly looked around the room to see several important Danians and not so important Danians (although every Danian was important, being a part of the Hive and all): Raznus, Skartalas, Wamma, Lhad, Lore, Bierk, and Jaal. They were all looking at him expectedly, and Aimukk didn't like the feeling. He shifted his four legs, nervous. Queen Illexia smiled at him before asking, "Aimukk, don't be so nervous. I have a task for you. You can deny taking it if you wish."

Aimukk tilted his head to the side, his emerald eyes confused. "A task, my queen?"

"Are you willing to take one of the humans as a nestmate?" Queen Illexia went straight for the heart. Aimukk froze, fear and anger and indignity paralyzing his spine and the rest of his body.

Nononononononono! A human in his nest? That was too much! He heard the stories from the other tribes, mostly the Underworlders. Humans stank. Humans were messy. Humans were gluttonous. Humans had no manners. Humans didn't listen to orders, even when those orders could save their life.

He did _not_ want a human in his nest!

Immediately, the word out his mouth was "No!" Aimukk shook in horror at his outburst and the prospect of having a human as a nestmate anyways. Queen Illexia shrugged and said, "Very well. You may go."

Aimukk looked at the queen in surprise before looking at the other Danians in the room. Wamma, Lhad, and Bierk looked uninterested at his answer. Raznus and Lore were giving him disappointed looks and Skartalas was glaring at him for some reason. But Jaal…he looked so sad, like Aimukk had told him that the little hatchling he was hoping to receive was going to another Danian.

Aimukk couldn't look at that face any more. Quickly, he turned and left the queen's chambers.

Jaal found him on Oipont's Lookout, near the top of the pillar. Aimukk didn't look at the purple Danian as he sat next to him, front legs slightly dangling over the edge. Aimukk had his tucked under him, ready to bolt if the need arose. The two friends sat in silence for a while before Jaal spoke, "What's wrong with these humans, Aimukk? Why don't you want one?"

Aimukk snorted. "They're nothing but dirt! Smelly, sticky, rule-breakers, miscreants, thieves! I don't want one, and the queen should just kill them!"

"These humans are smelly and sticky because they didn't have access to cleaning water. Ore humans are miscreants and thieves. These people only like to blow things up and pull pranks. Or do you forget the pail of water on Tarbok?" Jaal replied reasonably.

Aimukk glared at his friend, not liking how he was tearing down the wall of reasons. In truth, he heard from Skartalas how efficient the humans were. No sound, no flicker of fabric, no warning. They were just there, like Mipedian Stalkers. If they had the right amount of Battlegear, could they massacre the Hive? That's what truly prevented him from taking in a human.

"If any of us took a human, then we are open for attack. I don't want a hand in our tribe's fall," he said bluntly, looking over the edge to his home below.

"Is that what this all about? An unfounded fear?" The astonishment in Jaal's voice caused Aimukk to look at his friend to see a small smile on his face. "Aimukk, they've had several chances to destroy us when they were setting up their pranks! These UN humans would choose petty revenge over massacre. It'll be Kolmo all over again, that's all."

Aimukk mulled over the training of Kolmo after he had been assimilated. It had taken several moons, between teaching Danian manners, Hive calls, following Danian mentality, and breaking bad spying habits. It tested several Battlemasters and many citizens' patience, but it was worth it in the end. Will the humans be the same way?

"Why don't you volunteer, Jaal? You seem perfect for the job," Aimukk asked, desperate to have his friend in the spotlight. Jaal laughed and responded, "We had a deal, remember? If I took on Kolmo, you would take on the next one of my choosing. Well, I chose this!"

Aimukk glared at the grinning Jaal. "You just remembered that deal so that I have to take on a human, didn't you? Why were you there in the first place?"

"I had suggested you. I wanted to see your reaction when our queen asked," Jaal confessed, a slightly guilty look on his face. Aimukk sighed and shook his head. Jaal offered, "If you want, you can do a trial run with a human, see if you go through with it. And I can always help out."

Aimukk mulled over this idea before nodding. "All right," he said, standing up. Jaal followed his example, stretching slightly to undo any kinks in his back. Aimukk sucked in a deep breath and said, "Let's go see the queen."

The audience with the queen went well. Aimukk was allowed a trial run with a human and was given a list on what to do to his nest to make it "human-proof." Aimukk was immediately reminded of hatchling-sitting. Sometimes a hatchling caretaker needed a break to spend time with friends or by themselves. They would leave their hatchling with someone trustworthy with hatchlings and a list of rules for that hatchling before disappearing for a few hours.

Aimukk shuddered as he walked back to his nest. He did not want the duty of hatchling caretaker, no matter how "rewarding" the caretakers claimed it to be. He liked being a warrior for Queen Illexia, thank you.

A ruckus alerted him to trouble in one of the market places. Aimukk hurried over; his skills as a warrior maybe needed. He stopped short when he saw the crowd gathered around a stall, and yet giving it a wide berth. High-pitched voices carried over the chuckles and snickers of the crowd.

Aimukk frowned and began to push his way through the crowd, using all the polite manners he was taught as a hatchling. It took a few minutes, but as he moved closer, he could clearly hear what the voices were talking about.

"What happened to your hair?"

"Did you do it on purpose?"

"Do you have many scars?"

"How did you get said scars?"

"What are those things on your arms?"

"Elhadd says that it's not okay to color on yourself."

"You need a guide! We can show around Mount Pillar!"

Aimukk finally pushed his way past the last line of citizens to see the brown human he had silence, now in appropriate Danian clothing (though still wearing it wrong), and standing on the stall, trying to wrap himself around one of the thin support poles. His brown eyes were wide, head shaking "no," and he was muttering under his breath. The poor human looked like he was going to faint, and the little pincers, belonging to five little hatchlings barely a moon old, grabbing at his legs and feet were not helping.

Aimukk decided that the poor human had had enough and rescued him. With all intentions to embarrass the man, of course.

"Hey, little ones. What do you have there?" he asked, feigning surprise. The five hatchlings turned to look at him as he stepped forward and the human gave a look of utter desperation. Aimukk placed his hands on his thorax and scowled. "How did the human escape?"

Simple question with a simple answer, really. If the humans can sneak in and out of Mount Pillar with supplies for a prank, why wouldn't they break out of a prison cell as well? A few guards down there may take care of that problem.

One of the hatchlings, a little orange fellow with yellow highlights, piped up, "Not a human! Too silly to be one."

Another orange little one, with blue highlights, countered his friend with, "_Told_ you he was a human. Drazz came home all proud he had helped with the capture."

A yellow hatchling with orange highlights continued to focus on the human. "Down! Down! Wanna play."

Aimukk thought that the human seemed to try to climb up the pole higher at those words. He sighed and decided that a distraction was in order. "Hey, where's your caretaker anyways?"

A green hatchling chirped, "No ca-re-tak-er. Daddy nearby. We just saw him and were curious. Our daddies always find us though."

The last hatchling, a purple little guy, added, "Elna told me that humans would gobble me up if they had the chance! But he hasn't made a move at all. Not even drooling!"

"That's because _your_ daddy has no experience with humans, not like Elhadd," the first orange hatchling said. Aimukk stepped in before a fight broke out.

"Can you guys do me a very large favor?" At the word "favor," he had all the hatchlings' attention. "There's a stall that sells sweet fungus that way," he pointed in the opposite direction of the squad of Danians he had seen coming, led by Odu-Bathax. "Can you meet me there? I'll be with you in a few minutes," he promised.

"Sweet fungus? Okay."

"Meet you there!"

Immediately, the four hatchlings raced away, dragging their fifth companion behind them with surprising strength. Aimukk smirked as the crowd parted and let the little hatchlings through. The human visibly relaxed, releasing the pole and landing on the stall counter, legs splayed over the edge. That relaxation ended when Odu-Bathax grabbed the human by the leg and held him upside down. The Battlemaster laughed as the human struggled to keep his dignity, whatever's left of it.

"Well done, Aimukk!" Odu-Bathax praised. "Stalling the human until reinforcements arrived!"

Aimukk felt heat crawl up his face. The crowd was still there, unmoving. Aimukk corrected the Battlemaster, "I did not 'stall' him, sir. Five _brave_ little hatchlings had him up the stall's pole, peppering him with questions."

The human glared at him before opening his mouth. "Just wait. Karma's a bitch, man."

Aimukk raised an eyebrow at the man before he was carried away back to the prison. Then he shrugged and turned toward the sweet fungus stall he told the hatchlings, pushing through the dispersing crowd. After all, such bravery must be rewarded.

It had been five days since the humans' capture on the outskirts of Danian territory. It was enough time for the human sponsors to prepare for their new nestmates. Aimukk looked over his home. There was a new nest-bed, far away from the door. It was small by Danian standards, but it should be hollow enough for the human. Thick blankets and pillows would cushion the human from the hard earth. All sharp objects were in a safe, locked away so that the human wouldn't have the chance to hurt any civilians (Aimukk truthfully thought that the rule was so that the humans didn't off themselves). Fresh sets of clothes were delivered to his home, but he had no idea on what gender he was getting. The humans all wore the same. New foods stocked his cabinets, safe enough for humans to eat without getting sick. Aimukk shuddered as he remembered the brown packets of supposed "ready to eat" meals. The names under the little lined box were so long! Switching the humans' diet over to fresh foods was for the best.

Aimukk looked over his home once more before smirking. It looked like it was ready for any nest-guest. He exited his home to head to the prison. Some other Danians were on their way down to the prison, to see which human to stay away from. After all, the human-sitters may consider their human a gift from the queen, and woe to those who damage their gift.

When he finally entered the prison chamber, Aimukk was surprised by how many Danians were there to witness the humans' initiation into Danian schooling. While it wasn't packed to the brim and major gaps in the crowd, he still had to use his manners a couple of times as he made his way to the actual prison. Upon arriving on the presentation ledge, he was greeted by Skartalas, Raznus, Lore, and, surprisingly, Wamma. The fat red Mandiblor didn't look like he wanted to be there.

"The humans undamaged?" he asked when greetings were exchanged.

"Pretty much. One of the civilians charged with drunken actions after a celebration is in with one of the humans," Skartalas said first.

"Looks like the human's been teaching him a few lessons as well," Lore clucked disapprovingly. Aimukk stared at the old muge and lightly gulped. _Please don't let me have that human,_ he prayed silently to the Cothica.

Odu-Bathax arrived not long after Aimukk did. He motioned for the small group to follow him up a level. When they reached the first cell, Odu-Bathax checked to see who it was before pointing to Lore first.

"Lore, meet US Army Corporal Kennedy Miller," he thundered while slapping against the wall. The bars of the cell receded down to the ground, and the first human stepped out. The man's body was trying to rival Odu-Bathax in height and muscles. He slightly fell short, and looked more like Maxxor's build than the Battlemaster's. His face was sorrowful, blue eyes dull, red hair unkempt. _They were still slightly broken,_ Aimukk realized. Lore stepped forward and grasped the human gently by the arm. Aimukk watched as Lore lead Kennedy away, surprised as each step the man took, he seemed to perk up. By the time the pair made it down to ground level and the crowd of Danians parted, the human was standing his full height, easily towering over Lore, and his steps seemed lighter.

Odu-Bathax went to the next cell and called out, "Skartalas, I'm sure you're familiar with US Army Sergeant First Class Imani Barley." With that, a dark slim figure stepped out of the cell. Aimukk's first thought was that Intress had turned human, dyed her hair black and braided it into thin braids pulled back into a ponytail, and exchanged her grey clothes for a brown halter dress, held up by belts and straps to retain modesty. The dark human radiated grace, danger, and cunning as she bore her dark eyes into Skartalas. Aimukk barely resisted the urge to back up and/or cower. Wamma and Raznus had no qualms about moving away from the clearly irate woman. Skartalas, the crazy bastard, was smirking.

Imani smiled a cruel, thin smile and said, "He is. I have many great things to speak to him about." Aimukk shivered at the icy frost covering her words. Skartalas continued to smirk and bowed dramatically, arms twirling gracefully. "I am humbled that Queen Illexia decided that we would be best for each other." He glanced up at the woman. "I look forward to our talk."

The woman advanced, and Aimukk _did _move away from her. She may only come up to their chests, but Aimukk had a feeling that she could kick their abdomens from the prison to the Queen's Gate. Skartalas smirked. The woman, _Imani, _Aimukk scolded himself, had to look up a bit to meet Skartalas's eyes, and purred, "Do you remember what I said to you when we let you go?"

Skartalas had leveled his head down so that the pair was almost beak to nose. His smirk seemed to grow. He smugly replied, "I do recall you threatening to kill me if I revealed where you were located and who you were. However, it's hard to keep a secret when everyone in the Tribe knows where you are."

Imani growled and Aimukk was sure that an attack was going to happen. Then she relaxed, eyes still hard, but no longer wanting to tear into Skartalas. "I understand that you have a sort of shower? I would like to feel clean again before continuing this discussion."

Skartalas held out his arm mockingly. "Madame," he said, and Imani took his arm. They went down to the main floor, and several Danians scrambled away from the icy glare that Imani gave them.

Aimukk returned his attention to the introductions when the next cell opened. Odu-Bathax had opened the door before pointing out who was going to take this human. Aimukk's eyes widened as the brown male appeared and crossed over to Odu-Bathax's other side, close to the ledge. Odu-Bathax eyed him warily before nudging him a little farther away from the ledge so that the human wouldn't get any ideas. The human ignored him and Odu-Bathax growled before saying, "Aimukk, this is US Army Sergeant Matthew Walker."

The man smirked. "Told you karma's a bitch," he said smugly. Aimukk circled around, keeping an eye on the human. He ended up by Odu-Bathax's other side and in front of the cell.

"And who is this 'karma' that's such a horrible female?" he snarled. The human, Matthew, growled and took a step closer to Aimukk. He replied, "Karma is a concept used by many Indian cultures as a system of balance. You do something, something happens to you in return."

Aimukk smirked, not convinced. "Really?"

Another step by the human. "Yes."

Aimukk couldn't resist a snort. The human took another step, making them come chest to chest. Aimukk couldn't help but challenge Matthew. "Prove it."

Matthew smirked and struck. Aimukk felt the breeze of the fist graze over his grey horn on his head before it made contact with the Danian trying to sneak up on him. A screech erupted from the struck Danian and Aimukk turned to see the prisoner stumble backwards into the cell. A hand pushed him aside before the human kicked the prisoner back into the cell. Odu-Bathax, who had been paying attention to Matthew and Aimukk's argument, snapped into action, slamming his hand against the wall and closing the prison cell.

Aimukk looked between the prison cell and Matthew, mouth slightly agape. The human had saved him, and was currently smirking at him. Aimukk frowned and was about to ask why Matthew had saved him when the human beat him to it.

"That was for getting those kids away from me," Matthew explained, smirk growing wider. "Just wait until later for payback." With that, he sauntered, _sauntered,_ away. As he walked down, he called over his shoulder, "Zachary, give yours hell! Elizabeth, Thomas, give yours double hell!"

Shouts of agreement and encouragement sounded from the other cells as the human continued downward. Aimukk hurried after him, intent on keeping Matthew safe from the other Danians, but not before Odu-Bathax muttering something about "Wamma" and "_two_ humans." He reached the human's side just as Matthew reached the main level. Together, the Danian and human left the prison.

The silence was uncomfortable. Aimukk and Matthew were side by side as they traveled to Aimukk's nest. Nobody bothered them as they walked, but they gained quite a few stares as they passed.

Aimukk snuck a glance at Matthew. The brown human held his head high, but his body was more subdued. All the energy and boastfulness he had shown in the prison was gone. _He probably didn't get much sleep with the other prisoner,_ Aimukk realized. _He must have been running on the last reserves of energy he had._

Something was tickling the back of his mind though. The human had thanked him for "saving" him from the children. Why would he be afraid of hatchlings? Aimukk decided to ask, even if it would be considered rude, no matter which tribe or planet a person's from.

"So," he drawled, "what caused you to fear hatchlings, Matthew?" Matthew, what a strange name!

"It's Matt," came the sharp reply. "Only my mother calls me 'Matthew,' and that's only when I'm in trouble."

Aimukk shrugged, a small grin starting to form. Amusement crept into his voice as he said, "Okay, _Matt_….you still haven't answered my question."

Matthew, _Matt,_ Aimukk corrected himself, sighed and explained, "I'm not scared of them. I just fear that I'll hurt them somehow. Have you ever seen a kid cry? It's scary and makes you feel guilty."

Aimukk mulled over Matt's answer before nodding agreeably. He had accidentally made a couple of Jaal's hatchlings cry over the solans. It took a couple of days of silence from Jaal and a through destruction of a training room before he felt better.

Deciding to test the waters a bit, Aimukk decided to ask about Matt's style of hair. "So, why did you do your hair like this?" He almost poked one of the medium thick matted things that qualified as hair, but stopped himself.

Matt laughed and ran his hand through the long mats. "They're called _dreadlocks_, man," he explained, speaking the style word in Human. "I twisted my hair into rows and clumps so that it would be considered 'stylish.'"

"And you don't have any problems with it?" Aimukk asked, amazed. He thought that it would hard to keep up with. They had finally reached his nest and the Danian reached out a hand to open the door.

"Not really. I'm used to it by now. What made you decide to take on a human?" Matt asked. Aimukk froze and looked at the human. Matt raised an eyebrow in challenge. "You found out about my kid thing, I get to find out why you decide on taking on a human. Spill, man."

Aimukk sighed and leaned against his door. He looked at the human and decided on the truth. After all, he could give Matt back, right?

"I didn't want to take a human in at first," he admitted quietly. Matt didn't say anything, his brown eyes warded. Aimukk continued, "I had heard stories from the other Tribes. They were not the most pleasant to hear. I had let them influence me, but my friend, Jaal, convinced me to give you lot a try."

Matt shrugged, his face indifferent. "Okay, man." He gestured toward the door. "So, this is where you live?"

Aimukk was grateful for the subject change. "Yes, this is my home. And now yours." He opened the door and motioned the human inside. Matt complied and Aimukk closed the door behind them. He knew what the human would see, a common area melding into the cooking area and two closed doors. He knew that it wasn't much, but he didn't want to see the disappointment on Matt's face. The humans must have lived in better living quarters than his home.

But then he felt a weight against him, and Aimukk couldn't help but look down. Matt was leaning up against him, head on his arm, looking at his home like it was one of the noble's suites. Aimukk noticed that Matt seemed to zoom in on the cooking area. He started to ramble. "It's not much compared to what you humans might be used to. I was hoping that-"

"It's _perfect,_" Matt breathed. Aimukk swore that Matt's face was glowing. A funny feeling rose in Aimukk's chest. He tried to stamp it down by making the human stop leaning on him and showed him the bathroom, complete with a washing hole full of cleaning water. Then he showed Matt the sleeping area.

"This is your bed," he explained, pointing to the smaller nest-bed. Matt was leaning on him again, eyes almost closed. Aimukk had a feeling that he would have to explain his nest again when the human woke up. Matt hummed in agreement. Aimukk warned, "I'm going to wake you up early tomorrow."

Matt "mmm-hmmm"ed again. Aimukk frowned. "Matt?"

"Hmmmm?" Aimukk realized that the human was almost asleep. Gently, he grabbed Matt around the waist and lowered him down to the nest-bed. Matt was asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Pulling a blanket over the human's body, Aimukk decided to let him take a bath later as he crawled into his own bed. Mentally, he counted all the things that the humans needed to learn about Danian society and sighed. It's going to be a long couple of moons.

As time went on, Aimukk and the other Danian sponsors were pleasantly surprised by the humans. Their manners were impeccable, "please" and "thank you" and "yes, sir" or "no, sir" constantly leaving their lips. It wasn't too hard teaching them about Hive mentality; it was another thing to have the humans act on Hive mentality. They kept thinking like humans and like Danians, and the two were not really mixing together. The humans couldn't do Hive calls, so teaching that was out of the question.

But if there was one thing about the humans that drove the entire Hive insane was their love of pranks. It would usually happen once a week, sometimes twice if they were extremely bored, and it would usually put a portion of the Hive into a tizzy. Since the humans were not cleared for missions yet, those pranks were their only outlet for their energy. Finally, after two and a half moons, Odu-Bathax declared that the humans were to be trained in the usage of the various Battlegear, hoping that the exercise would tire them out. It worked, in a way. Now the pranks only happened once a moon.

During those moons, Aimukk learned much about Matt. He could cook, and very well. He was raised in a downgrading neighborhood, and joined the army as soon as he became eighteen. His fingertips were scarred from his work with wires. He loved telling jokes, often at the expense of the US Air Force. He preferred melee combat to long-range fighting, though he was proficient at both.

It was his personality that drew Aimukk at first. Matt was so mellow, and took things in stride, but when Aimukk came back from an assignment injured, he went protective, clucking of the Danian and guarding the door as he rested. Then a moon under his care, Aimukk accidentally watch Matt strip down to take a bath and was mesmerized by the human's movements. He felt the desire and admiration for Matt grow over the moons. He thought that it was just lust, and that the next Mandiblor promoted would be his next heartthrob, his newest crush, his one.

The next Mandiblor was promoted, but Aimukk's desire didn't change. In fact, it became worse. His pincers itched to touch that soft skin over and over again, and several times he caught himself thinking about human mating practices.

It didn't truly hit Aimukk on how hard he's fallen for Matt until the human was injured in a training accident.

"Quit squirming, Matt!" Ken growled as he pinned his fellow saboteur's legs. Matt snarled in response and tried to move away from the red-head, but Aimukk blocked him.

They were in the one of the training rooms for a late-night training session. Matt had leapt into the air to land on one of the balance beams when his leg hit the beam and a loud _crack!_ sounded. Immediately, Matt cried out in pain and Aimukk irrationally panicked and stayed by his human's side while Ken fetched Lore and a mugic.

Lore arrived shortly after Matt growled as many curse words as appropriate about his leg as possible. After a quick check-up, Lore cheerfully informed the human that they'll have to manually set his leg back into its original position. Hence, the snarling and growling at the moment.

Aimukk held Matt's arms down so that he wouldn't attempt to scratch or do worse to Ken as he finally set the leg back. Lore quickly casted the mugic, a Minor Flourish, on the human, and a brilliant green light hit Matt, with seven musical notes sounded through the room.

When it was over, Lore checked the leg and shook his head. "It's not completely healed, but by morning, it should be. But you'll have to not move during the night."

Ken snorted. "That's downright impossible with Matt!"

"It is not!" Matt countered.

"Matt, call it what you want, but you wriggle, squirm, and kick so much during the night that people thought you were _dancing in your sleep_." Matt scowled at Ken's words while Lore grabbed Aimukk's attention.

"Aimukk, you'll have to hold him tonight," Lore said.

Aimukk felt his brain disconnect. "What?"

"You heard me. You need to hold him in his sleep so that his leg finishes healing. Now take him home. This training session is over," Lore ordered before grabbing Ken and dragging him away. Aimukk sighed and carried Matt back to their nest.

When it was time to sleep, Aimukk grew nervous. How was he supposed to prevent Matt from breaking his leg again as he slept? Was he supposed to lie on top of the human or have the human sprawl on his abdomen? And how would Matt react?

In the end, Aimukk laid in his nest-bed on his back, with Matt on his chest, a blanket over both of them. The Danian splinted the human's leg, but was still nervous about sleeping with Matt. Over the moons, he had grown to enjoy the touch of the human; it was so different, skin so soft and malleable. He felt like he was becoming addicted to it.

"Comfortable?" Aimukk asked with a smirk, trying to distract himself.

Matt seemed to snuggle into his chest before sighing. "Yeah," came the sleepy reply. "And get that smirk off your face, Aimukk."

Aimukk chuckled. He watched as Matt drifted off slowly to sleep. He wrapped his arms and both sets of legs around the human, relishing the feeling of Matt in his arms.

"I know you like me," came a sleepy murmur from Matt. Aimukk froze, but relaxed when another murmur reached his ears, "and it's okay." Scarred fingers started to lightly make little designs on Aimukk's exoskeleton. "I like you too."

Aimukk couldn't help it, his heart sped up in hope. "Really?" he asked casually.

One of Aimukk's hands began to toy with the dreadlocks. Matt murmured in pleasure and replied, "Mmmmmm. It's been awhile, ya know? Since I've felt this way. That fuzzy feeling inside, so warm and inviting, I had resisted at first. But after you came home from that mission, injured, I couldn't resist anymore."

Aimukk purred in delight as Matt tucked his head into his neck. That body, so lithe and hard, covered in a soft skin, pressed closer to his. Senses in overdrive, Aimukk croaked, "We'll have to take this slow."

He felt Matt nod in agreement. His human replied sleepily, "I don't mind."

Aimukk nuzzled the dreadlocked head as he felt Matt's breathe even out as he fell asleep. Yawning, Aimukk closed his eyes and allowed himself to drift to sleep, his heart content.

_**A/N: Until next time. Did you know that reviews make me write faster? Not watches, not favs, REVIEWS? Yeah! So tell me what you think!**_


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